The Day the Carriages Came Clean
by Divine Dark Angel
Summary: The carriages smelled differently this year, cleaner. Ginevra Weasley, seated in a carriage with two of her three friends, noted this change with a smile. ’Thank Merlin! These carriages have always smelled rather…musty.’
1. In The Beggining

The carriages smelled differently this year, cleaner. Ginevra Weasley, seated in a carriage with two of her friends, noted this change with a smile. 'Thank Merlin! These carriages have always smelled rather…musty.'

"Ginny!" Blaise Zabini said sharply.

Ginny snapped her gaze back to the charming mahogany skinned Slytherin. "Yes Blaise dear?"

"Ginevra Molly Weasley, when one of your betters is speaking with you, you must pay attention…." Blaise was cut short as Ginny reached across the carriage and punched him in his arm. "Alright, alright! As I was saying, have you noticed anything different this year? About the school?"

Ginny turned her head and looked out at the castle sitting alone up on its rocky perch. It did seem different, more imposing. It had an air of menace, but only to those who meant it and its small children harm. Ginny turned back to her companions and nodded.

"It does seem a little…darker. More threatening somehow…" Ginny smiled radiantly, "But the carriages smell better."

Blaise smirked, and then smiled a real smile. Ginny beamed back at him and then turned her copper eyes to her other companion. "Vince?"

Vincent Crabbe turned to look at his small seat-mate. "Yeah?"

"How was your summer?" Ginny inquired.

The three friends spent the rest of the carriage ride chatting about their summers. Vincent had stayed with his aunt Caitlin, up in Ireland. They had spent the summer treating local villages of magical borne illnesses, and harvesting mandrake root.

"It wasn't all that bad, really." Vincent said indifferently, "It was kind of nice actually. Making up for my father's…indiscretions."

Ginny placed a sympathetic hand on the large boys arm. "And Greg?"

"He's been…distanced this summer. With Greg's sire committing suicide; he had to assume his place much faster than any of us would have thought. It's a horrible position." Vincent sighed, "Greg has had pressure from the Dark Lord to join him. He's tried to use the same excuse all of us have, that we dare not take the mark until after our 7th year. So we have one year to be ready. And yourself, did you learn anything from those two this summer?"

"Now Vincent! You know as well as I that both Blaise and Draco are exceptional wizards and I was thankful they wanted to teach me anything. Draco taught me a few things about dealing with dragons, oh stop laughing so hard; you're rocking the carriage, and Blaise taught me a lot about self defense."

Vincent was barley restraining himself, "And just how well did you handle your 'Dragon'?"

"Vincent! That is…I'll deal with you later." Ginny was unable to complete her threat, the gentle rocking motion of the carriage had stopped.

"Come on Vince, Ginger." Blaise opened the door and stepped out into the warm fall air. Vincent stepped out behind him. Blaise turned and offered his hand to Ginny, who took it and stepped carefully out.

She stopped in place as the assembled students eyes turned toward her and her companions. Not at all intimidated she gazed back at them calmly, then dropped her eyes to adjust her cloak clasp. There was a murmuring in the crowd when a few moments later a cool hand was placed on her shoulder and she was drawn back into a solid chest. She glanced back and met coolly amused silver eyes.

He lowered his head and a slip of his white-blonde hair fell across her shoulder, "You look ravishing Ginger." Then his mouth quirked up very slightly in one corner, "I really just said that didn't I?"

She gazed up into his dashing silver eyes and smiled a very small, very isolated, smile. "I think you did Draco."

The crowd decided that, as odd as it was, this small meeting was not worth standing around for and lost its collective interest. Just as the crowd started moving toward the Great Hall and an obscene amount of food, there was a cry of outrage and the sound of footsteps trying to push through the crowd.

Draco looked up from where he had his head bent to whisper in Ginny's ear and saw something straight out of his nightmares striding toward him. Ron Weasley was no shrimp, standing at six foot, but he seemed to expand in size as he got angrier and angrier.

"Malfoy," Ron snarled, "Get away from my sister. Ginevra get over here."

Ginny's eyes widened mockingly as she shrank back closer to Draco. Draco lowered his arm from where it had been on her shoulder to wrap it around her waist and snug her close to him.

"Make me Weasel," He sneered.

Ginny blinked and looked up. If he hadn't been holding her, and if she didn't know him as well as she did, that tone would have frightened her. It was the coldest she had ever heard Malfoy speak, ever. Concerned she lifted her hand and put it gingerly on his arm. Draco glanced down with a shadowy smile lurking in his cold eyes…

"Oi! Don't look at her that way Mal-ferret! She's too good for you!" Ron was seething in anger, his face red all the way to the roots of his hair, "Ginevra Molly Weasley! When Mum hears about this she's gonna be so angry with you! I knew she shouldn't have let you stay the summer at that Zabini's house, a known Death Eater he is. It'd be just rewards if he got thrown in Azkaban with his uncle."

Ron had never made it a practice to think about what he said, and if he did suddenly decide to implement said practice he still wouldn't take into account the consequences.

Those students sill outside turned to observe what the hotheaded Weasley had gotten himself into this time. Harry and Hermione stood waiting in the wings, prepared to hex the life out of anyone who took a threatening step towards their best mate. The entire lot of them expected Draco, or Blaise to defend their names. They would have thought nothing of it if any of the Slytherins had retaliated. What they did not expect was that the littlest Weasley- a true Gryffindor- would leap to the defense of the slimy group of Slytherins. So it surprised the hell out of everyone when she leapt out of Draco's arms before he had a chance to stop her.

Ginny was past the point of rational thought. Something dark, deep down snapped and as she launched herself at her brother she felt the power that had been with her since her stay at the Zabini mansion uncurl and lash out. She followed the wave with her fist, splitting her dear brother's lip.

She smiled grimly at her handiwork and eyed her hand. The sight of her three broken fingers proved too much and she fell backwards into Draco's waiting arms. He hefted her weight with a little effort, glaring at the other two members of the trio.

Harry had opened his mouth as soon as he picked Ginny up, but Draco cut him off.

"Leave me the hell alone Potter. I'm taking Ginny to the Hospital Wing. You can either get the hell out of my way, or be faced with the business end of my wand. It's your choice," Draco waited calmly for the scarred boy to make his choice, then addressed the Slytherins behind him, "Pansy, Millicent, Vincent, go on into the feast. Tell the house that I am otherwise detained and keep the rumors under control. Blaise, Greg, and Nott you three go find Snape and inform him of the problem. I am taking Gin to the Hospital Wing. Dismissed."

"Yes, Serpent Seigneur." The named individuals bowed their heads and moved off.

Draco swept one more scathing look over the three Gryffindors before starting off with Ginny in his arms. After a safe distance emerged between himself and the instigators he slowed and shifted his burden, "Jesus H. Christ Gin, you've gained at least five pounds since the last time I had to carry you. You're going on a diet as soon as you wake up."

Draco rotated his shoulders as best as he could and trudged on to the Hospital Wing, placing Ginny in the most capable hands of Madame Pomfry. Then he turned on his heel and marched right back out the door without so much as a by your leave.

'Sodding arse Gryffindors can't trust them not to do anything stupid.'


	2. There Was A Boy and There Was a Girl

When Ginny woke up the first thing she noticed was the vaguely familiar ceiling of the hospital wing, the second that she had a splitting head-ache, and the third that her right hand hurt like hell. And the cosmos would not be completely happy unless Harry Potter, (Most commonly known as The-Boy-Who-Would-Not-Bloody-Well-Die…err….Who-Lived….) was standing over her bed with a most dissatisfied look on his face.

'Wonder who shoved a wand up his…'

"'Lo Harry. What can I do ya for?" Ginny queried.

"Ginevra Molly Weasley! I cannot _**believe**_ that you hit your _**elder brother **_for the sake of two _**Slytherin Deatheaters! **_What in the bloody hell is wrong with you?" Harry ranted, waving his hands in the air, his hair falling -as always- into his eyes.

"Careful Potter, she may do the same to you." A very calm, very cold voice echoed down the long corridor. Long strides carried the boy down the hall, his boot heels thudding lightly on the stones. He came to a rest beside Ginny's bed; on the far side of where Potter tried, unsuccessfully, to intimidate the small female.

"Zabini. Why are you here?" Harry demanded.

"Why to check on my _**favorite**_ Gryffindor of course. It's not every day that Gin-bug breaks her hand on her dearest brother's face." Blaise lifted Ginny's injured right hand and tisked over it. "My darling, why the hell didn't you keep your thumb on the _**outside **_of your fist? Did you forget everything that I taught you?"

Ginny had the modesty to look sheepish. Her cheeks flushed slightly pink as she averted her eyes from Blaise. "Err….well….you see…"

Ginny thought fast and tried to come up with an excuse to get out of the lecture she knew she'd receive for forgetting the very first rule of pummeling your over-sized opponents, "I umm…got distracted! By umm….Snape…wearing a…um….pink house-coat! Yeah that's it…"

Blaise lifted a delicate eyebrow. "That's the best you've got?" He chuckled, ignoring Potter's persistent glaring. "Oh well, remember what you did wrong and maybe- just maybe mind you- I can forgive you."

Ginny's face lightened considerably. She lifted her injured hand and held it out to Blaise childishly, "Kiss it and make it feel better."

Blaise lifted his other eyebrow and smirked amusedly, "I think not Gin. Malfoy would kick my ass, and we both know it's much too valuable a thing to lose over such a small injury…"

Ginny rolled her eyes and put her hand back down. She had begun to pout before she remembered that Harry was still there, observing the exchange with something akin to hate, "Is there something I can do for you Potter?" She finally asked him, staring into those green eyes of his. Four years ago the action would have caused her to melt into a girlish puddle. However, Ginny was not that girl any longer, and now all she saw were eyes hidden behind those horrid glasses.

Harry scowled and turned on his heel to stride out of the Hospital wing, banging into Draco who had just stepped in.

"Watch it Mal-ferret," He snarled, attempting (and failing) to slam the wing's doors shut.

Draco's silver eyes followed the irate boy for a few moments, then turned to meet a matching pair of eyes and a set of warm brown ones, "Who shoved a wand up his ass?"

Ginny burst into a fit of giggles, clutching her side with one arm, while the other thumped down on the bed railing. "Ow! Damnit….stupid sodding bloody bed-rail…should shove you up Harry's bloody ass and give that ruddy poor wand a damn break…." She would have continued if Draco hadn't hurried up the corridor to slap one of his large hands over her mouth.

He kept it there as he asked Blaise a question over her head. "What did Potter want?"

Blaise shook his head, his ears faintly pink from the words Ginny had blurted out. "Don't know mate. Sure made her mad though."

Draco knelt beside Ginny's bed, his hand still clamped over her mouth. At six foot one he had to look up about an inch to meet her eyes as she sat propped in her bed. Her eyes were snapping with temper as she glared at him. "Now Gin. If I move my hand are you going to curse me?"

Ginny glared at him, and then shook her head. Draco sighed and looked at her one more time then asked Blaise another question, leaving his hand on her mouth. Ginny was tired of his hand preventing her from joining the conversation and darted her tongue out to lick said offender.

Draco jerked his hand back as if something had burned him. "She LICKED ME!" Fastidiously he rubbed his hand on the sheets beside her, grimacing.

Ginny and Blaise sniggered at his rather girlish behavior, before Blaise tipped his head at her.

"I'm leaving My Darling. If Pooter bothers you just give us a call!" He bent to peck her on the head and trotted out of the wing before Draco noticed.

Draco straightened up, and looked at Ginny deviously. "You know Gin, I don't object to you licking me, however I can think of other places besides my hand…"

Ginny gasped and looked at him in outrage. He smirked, all of the -doubtful- Malfoy charm turned up to full power. Ginny could almost hear the Charm Captain hollering for all thrusters go…'Oh my…must have hit my head harder than I thought…'

Ginny came to when she felt Draco settle beside her on the bed, "Did I say you could sit here?"

"Not really. But you know you don't mind." Draco replied settling back against the head board. Ginny sighed and leaned up to allow him behind her, then settled back against his chest. She lifted her hand up to his eye-level.

"Yes it's your hand. So what?" Draco asked dryly.

Ginny pouted and shot him a glance over her shoulder. "It's a hand that got hurt fighting your battles Mr. Malfoy."

Draco had the grace to look sheepish. "I'm sorry?" He offered.

"Oh no. You're not getting out of this that easily," Ginny got a mischievous smile on her face, "You have to kiss it and make it better."

Draco sighed in relief as he thought to himself, 'That's all?'

He lifted the injured appendage to his lips and caressed the soft skin exposed above the bandage wrapped around her fingers and thumb. He let his lips linger, trailing a warm dry path along the inside of her wrist, scratch that, a warm wet path along the underside of her wrist and further up her arm.

Ginny sighed, making a very small whimpering sound in the back of her throat. She gave a small shriek when she felt Draco's hand running up and down her left side, his other hand crossing over her stomach to clasp her hip in his large hand. Ginny lost all rational thought when Draco's lips found the curve of her shoulder and closed over it. Ginny's left hand finally came up to grasp ineffectually at his roving arm, latching on fervently.

Draco's mind was in over-load. He had her here in his arms, kissing that slender column of silk that she called a throat. Oh he felt the power in her body thrumming beneath him, the warm hum seducing him into letting his guard down. Ginny suddenly shifted in his arms, turning the tables on him. He lost his hold on her neck, and instead found himself looking down into meltingly sweet brown eyes. She would have looked innocent, lying there in his arms, if not for the devious glint in her eyes. She lifted herself up against his chest using her left hand and secured his lips in hers.

'Mary sweet mother of God…' she thought, capturing Draco's lips in hers. He was pliant under her, languid even. She feared he didn't feel like she did when suddenly his arms closed around her and brought her to him in a crash. He devilishly took her sweet lips and devoured them. Melting as she was she still had a need to breathe and she lifted her lips from his. She snuggled down in his arms and put her head back where she felt it belonged, in the crook of his neck.

"Hand feeling better?" He asked, his voice a harsh growl.

"Much…" Ginny breathed, sighing as she closed her eyes.

"Malfoy medicine….always works." Ginny heard as she drifted off to sleep, her dreams guaranteed to be pleasant.

Draco made sure she was asleep before slipping out from under her slight form. He lay her gently back down on her pillow and pulled her green quilt up over those delectable shoulders of hers. "Night Ginny."

Draco glanced around out of habit and bent to kiss her lips one last time, gently so as not to awaken her. He conjured a tulip, silver just the color of his eyes, and settled it into a vase beside her bed with another tulip. He smirked to himself to see the other flower was black, a present from Slytherin to the bone Blaise. Draco sighed and turned around to tread quietly out of the Wing and back to his prefect duties.


	3. They Were In Love

When Madame Pomfrey walked in to find the youngest Weasley sitting up in bed, apparently having a staring contest with the portrait of the previous med-witch of Hogwarts, she resolved to do a check on Miss Weasley's mind. 'Perhaps the poor dear hit her head when she fainted?'

Poppy tottered over to Ginny's bedside, with all the grace of a walrus, and tapped the girl's shoulder gently. "I'm here to check you out Miss Weasley. If your hand is feeling better you may leave."

Ginny didn't turn her head. "Just a minute please Madame."

The small redhead continued her intent gaze at the portrait in front of her. The middle-aged wizard in the painting was staring back just as avidly, his bright green eyes lit with a fierce determination to win. Madame Pomfrey lifted an eyebrow at the two and bustled back to her office.

'Oh my. I'm afraid the world has gone slightly insane.' She lifted her old stuffed hippogriff from her desk and hugged it. 'Yes most defiantly insane.'

Thirty minutes later Draco was off from his prefect duties. Immediately he strode off to the hospital wing to check on Ginny. It took him ten minutes to get from the Ravenclaw common room to the Wing, and that was pausing for frequent direction giving for those imbecilic first years.

'Merlin, if I was ever that dumb I will throw myself off the west tower.' Draco sniggered under his breath, 'Or kiss Ronnikins.' at this his sniggering exploded into a full-blown chuckle. He shoved his fist in his mouth to stifle it, and in his distraction strode into the Wing's impressive doors. The wood responded by throwing him back on his ass, just as the law of motion dictated. It made a hell of a racket as well.

Madame Pomfrey came to the door and peeked around the corner, her stuffed toy clutched to her chest. Seeing Draco, and not some wild rampaging pink elephant, she scurried to hide the toy in her front apron pocket. Clearing her throat she asked Draco, politely, what he was doing sitting outside the Wing doors.

"I'm spying on the dust bunnies Madame P." He replied sagely.

Pomfrey caught herself nodding and quickly scowled. "Anything I can do for you Mr. Malfoy?"

"Actually I'm here to check on Ginny…err Miss Weasley." Draco muttered, standing and dusting himself off.

"Ah, well. Miss Weasley is in some sort of staring contest with Monsieur Adamants right now. Perhaps you would be so kind as to…" Madame P trailed off as Draco nodded and strode past her and down to Ginny's bed. He knelt beside her and poked her in her ribcage sharply. She glanced down at him out of reflex and scowled as she heard Addy laugh.

She glared at the elder wizard angrily. "Malfoy you made me loose! Now Addy is still supreme staring champion!" She slouched her shoulders grumpily, but straightened immediately when Draco poked her again, this time between her shoulder blades.

"Ginny he's a painting. He doesn't have to blink. You wouldn't have won. And what have I told you about posture?" He snarled as she slouched again just to spite him. She gave him a cheeky grin before hopping off the bed and looking down at him.

"You know Draco; I rather like you at this angle. At my Feet, where you belon…" Ginny didn't get to finish her snarky comment as Draco stood and towered over her by quite a few inches.

"That's only because you're so short Ginny my dear." He replied smugly, knowing her lack of height was a sore spot.

"I prefer vertically challenged." She bit off, glaring at his chest. She refused to crane her neck looking up at him, especially when he was being a prat.

"Awe…poor little weaslette is height deprived." Draco sniggered, his eyes intent on the little redhead.

With a muffled growl Ginny spun on her heel and started to stride down the Wing's long corridor. Draco kept pace beside her easily, taking two strides to her four.

"I hate you sometimes ferret." Ginny snarled.

"I love you too weasel." Draco replied smoothly, holding the Wing's door open for her.

Ginny stuck her tongue out at him and started to sweep past him. She got maybe three steps when Draco snaked his arms out and pulled her back into the -convenient- shadows.

"Malfoy what do you think you're do-" Ginny's tirade was cut short as Draco hauled her up and held her at his level. She eeped and wrapped her legs around his waist. He smirked and lowered his head the inch he needed to capture her mouth with his. Ginny gasped and melted into him, rendered effectively silent.

'Teach that silly bint to stick her tongue out at me!' Draco gloated in his mind. He slowed his kisses to mere brushes against her lips, causing Ginny to growl at his teasing. He set her on her own feet gently, groaning as she wiggled her hips on the way down.

Ginny was fuming. 'How _**dare**_ he! He can't just kiss me because I said something he didn't like! Hmpf.'

Ginny didn't like how kissing him made her weak, tore down all of her carefully built defenses. 'I did not spend the summer fighting beside Blaise and his cousin just to turn into a helpless little girl at the first hint of danger. And relying on Draco to save me is the surest path down that road….even if I know he always will."

Draco watched as Ginny's thoughts flew across her face. 'She's so transparent. I know she feels the same way I do, and with father gone there's no reason I can't…" Draco's train of thought was brought to a screeching halt as Ginny shot out a hand to grab him by his collar and drag him down to her level.

She glared in his eyes and grinned devilishly. She kissed him soundly, and then spun on her heel to scamper down the corridor. Halfway to the curve that led to the Great Hall she stopped and stuck her tongue out at him.

'Take that Mr. Draco Malfoy!' She thought triumphantly as she bolted around the corner and scrambled to the Hall. 'Wonder if I've missed lunch?"

It turned out that Ginny hadn't missed lunch, in fact she was two minutes and thirty-two seconds early.

'Hell yes!' She crowed triumphantly as she scampered to "her" seat at the Gryffindor table. She plopped down as the teachers were filing in, and caught Snape's approving nod. She giggled behind her hand. 'Snape's such a softie. Mustn't blow his cover though….oh no….never do that!'

She glanced up at the feeling of eyes burning into her forehead to see Hermione, Harry and Ron entering the Hall.

'Aw hell. Here comes the Golden Trio. I don't wanna see them today….can't they just…I don't know…go play with the Squid?' Ginny pondered the mental picture for a moment before shaking her head. 'Too good for 'em.'

The Trio sat down exactly two seats across from her, with Harry being the closest. Ginny rolled her eyes as he shot her a poisonous look, and spooned a couple of potatoes onto her plate. She reached across the table to take a biscuit when Harry intercepted the plate and took the last five to pass to himself, Ron and Hermione. Ginny shrugged and tried for the fruit basket instead. This time Ron himself grabbed the plate and passed it further down the table.

"Oh what are you playing at?" Ginny demanded, tossing her head to get her curly hair out of her eyes. She glared down the table at Ron and Harry, who were both glaring right back at her.

'We don't associate with common whores." Harry snapped, lifting his nose in the air.

"Well maybe you'll deign yourself to effing give me my food back you bloody wanker!" Ginny bellowed, causing several heads to turn towards the three.

The two boys turned slightly red at the insult and stood up, in 'righteous male indignation'. Ginny remained in her seat, glaring at the two boys arrogantly.

"What Ronnikins? Not get enough of me the first time?" Ginny asked flippantly, twirling a strand of hair around her finger. She glanced up at her 'dear brother' brazenly. 'Ooo I'm so scared of big bad Ron. Save me somebody!' She giggled for a moment, and then a sharp prod in her shoulder jerked her from her reverie.

"Listen here you stupid bint! You may think your Miss Universe right now but just you wait! Mum's gonna hear about what you did you sodding…" Ron was cut off in his tirade by the Slytherin house, which had as a whole, stood from its table and strode over to the 'discussion'.

"Is there a problem?" Millicent Bulstrode demanded, her short black hair swept off her forehead and leaving her dark brown eyes free to glare into Potter's glowering green gaze.

"Bleeding hell! Ginevra did you sleep with the whole damn house!" Harry demanded, glowering at the smaller redhead.

"_**Harry James Potter**_! How dare you!" She rasped out, her eyes burning in the effort to hold back the tears that were threatening to fall.

Pansy Parkinson moved toward the small girl. "Now, now Gin-and-Tonic. Just because Potter here can't get that Chang girl he's so hot after, doesn't mean he gets to go around accusing people of doing things, or people, they didn't do." She nodded sharply at the rest of her housemates and they swept up around Ginny to form a wall of green between her and the two instigators.

"Until further notice boys, you are now on the House's exile list." Theodore Nott sneered.

"What's that then? Are you all going to curse us or something? Cause we can kick all of your asses!" Harry snarled, attempting to push past the Slytherins to get at Ginny again. The wall of students didn't move.

"Oh much worse Potter, much, much worse." Nott smirked at this and turned to sweep off after his housemates.


	4. Or Haven't You Heard?

Ginny was escorted to a seat at the end of the Slytherin table far away from the Gryffindors. She noticed a peculiar seat at the head of their table, Gryffindor had no such seat. Ginny pondered this as she glanced around. Ravenclaw had a chair like this one, theirs stood empty, as if no one had taken the seat for quite some time and Hufflepuff's seat was pushed back into the shadows collecting dust. Ginny brought a hand to her burning eyes and rubbed them fiercely.

She glanced to her left where Pansy had taken the second seat off of the throne-chair. She bowed her head at Pansy, "My thanks Miss Parkinson."

"Anytime Miss Weasley." Pansy replied, grinning widely.

Just as the Slytherins sat down, in what seemed a random order, Draco and Blaise entered the Great Hall and strode down the aisle "plotting".

"Zabini? Why is Ginny sitting at our table? And why the hell is she in the Bride's chair?" Draco demanded, cutting his eyes to his companion.

"I don't know Malfoy. But you should check out the Gryffindorks. Potter and Weasley look particularly peeved off." Blaise replied calmly.

Draco made a humming noise in his throat as he glanced from his table to Potter's. "Potter does seem a bit, peaked."

And so continued the "amiable" conversation as the pair neared their seats. The table stood as manner dictated and poor Ginny fell on her ass from the unexpectedness. The Slytherins had the grace to refrain from laughing, and Blaise came to a stop beside her to hoist her to her feet. "Sorry about that Gin-bug."

Ginny sighed and dusted off her butt, "I haven't even been to my first effing class and already I've broken my hand, been kissed by an insufferable git, had two of my supposed "friends" verbally assault me, and now I've been dropped on my ass in front of the great hall! All I need is somebody to tell me I've been promoted to 7th year potions with my bloody git of a brother and everything'll be just peachy!" Ginny sat down in a huff, folding her arms across her chest and tucking her chin down.

She failed to notice that the rest of the table didn't sit down. She also failed to notice that Draco was rubbing the back of his neck and moving to kneel beside her.

"Ginny," Draco whispered, fearing to set her of again, "Ginny, my dear, Professor Snape wanted me to give you this." Draco pulled a folded letter out of his pocket and put it in her outstretched hand.

Ginny didn't even lift her head. She opened the letter, scanned it, and calmly held it over the flame of the candle on the table. She dropped the ashes into a smoldering pile on her plate. Then she closed her eyes tightly and dropped her head with a loud thump onto the wood of the table.

Draco waved his hand at his housemates and they sat down in that "random" order again. Blaise took his seat in the chair to the immediate left of the throne and Draco swept past Ginny's slumped form and took his seat in the throne. He reached across the corner of the table and placed his hand on the back of her neck. "Will somebody please explain what is going on here?"

Ginny shuddered slightly, drawing Draco's gaze to her long enough for Millicent to rise from her seat. She came around Ginny's chair and knelt next to Draco. He cut his eyes to his fourth, but left his hand where it was.

"Malfoy, the house had to interfere on your Bride's behalf." Millicent looked up at Draco in amusement, "Although I suppose she could have handled it. Potter and Weasley started in on her about her alleged activities."

Draco's faced drained of what little color it had. "They accused her of what, whoring herself?"

Ginny flinched under his hand. Draco's eyes widened more at this action and he softly stroked the back of her neck with his cool fingers. Ginny quieted under his hand, her breath released in a shaky sigh.

Draco nodded at Millicent to continue.

"We have them on the Exile list sir. I'm going to put in a request for Ravenclaw's allegiance." Millicent glanced at Pansy before continuing, "I also wish permission to petition Snape to move the Bride into the Slytherin dorms until such time Potter and Weasley grow brains."

Draco seemed to ponder this for a moment, "I think that's wise. Ravenclaw has no ruler; you have to negotiate with their Duce Consul, Chang and Carmichael. As for Potter, he is to be treated as any exile. Ignore him, but use whatever means necessary to deny him access to Miss Weasley. She is my Bride, and should be protected at all costs. But Weasley, oh he shall suffer dearly for what he has done. We shall do whatever we must do to prove our displeasure." Draco nodded once sharply and the students dropped their attention to their plates.

Millicent stood and made her way back to the empty seat beside Ginny. She sat down and magically cleared the ash from Ginny's plate. She eased the Bride's torso up so she could fill the plate with lots of protein.

Draco eased forward in his chair to move his stroking fingers down from her neck to rub between her shoulder blades. "Ginny?" His soft voice carried no farther than her ears.

She lifted her head from the table and glanced around herself at the happily chattering students. She was startled when Millicent shoved a plate full of bacon and eggs under her nose. "Eat Miss Weasley."

Ginny took the plate gingerly and whispered a soft thank you. She turned her head back to Draco to find him discussing something with Blaise in rapid French. She cocked her head to the side and caught most of what they were discussing as she scarffed her breakfast.

They eventually noticed her scrutiny and their conversation teetered off.

"Do I have something on my face Darling?" Blaise asked innocently.

Ginny snorted and took the last bite of her bacon, "Cela fonctionne mieux si vous vous servez d'un langage que je ne sais pas."

The two boys exchanged sharp glances. "Since when did you learn French Weasel?" Draco demanded, his right hand tracing her wrist as he ate with his left.

"Since when did you eat with your left hand?" Ginny replied rolling her eyes.

Draco closed his hand around her wrist and tugged to get her attention. "There are a lot of things I can do with my left hand, my dear." He waggled his eyebrows lewdly.

"You look ridiculous I hope you realize that." Pansy added helpfully as she leaned around Blaise's bulky frame. "So what did our dear Snapey-poo want?"

Ginny giggled at Draco's look of outrage. She turned to meet Pansy's sparkling blue eyes and noticed how her face had lost its baby fat. She was never going to be gorgeous, but at least she lost the "pug" look.

"Oh, I've been promoted to 7th year potions with you guys and the Gryffindors." Ginny replied, gagging a little as she thought of double potions with her brother and Potter.

"Merlin! Thank you good God almighty!" Pansy clapped her hands and glanced across the table at Millicent. "You know what this means right?"

She nodded, "An all girls potion Team!"

Both girls squealed and bounced excitedly. Ginny smiled; pleased she had potions partners out of her own house.

Draco started his stroking again, almost as if it was a habit. He was pleased his Third and Fourth had the Bride under their wings. 'Perhaps I should assign them permanently? I could bump Nott and Vincent up a notch. Oh how Salazzar would be rolling about now.'


	5. In Houses Divided

After breakfast Ginny scurried back to her common room to gather all of her stuff into her trunk again. If Millie's plan worked then she would be in Slytherin's common room tonight, safe from her inept brother, his odd friend and their accusations.

'And I can figure out why they call me the 'Bride'!' Ginny was puzzled by this oddity. 'Yes I'm Draco's girl but not his fiancée! If you can define being someone's "girl" as the person that you snog on a regular basis and have wicked fantasies about!"

After hurriedly throwing on her robes, she started to run down the stairs. On the fifth step from the bottom there was a note, which Ginny paused to pick up. Seeing it was addressed to her she slid her finger under the wax seal and slipped the letter from its envelope.

_Ginevra,_

_You little slut of a Gryffindor. I cannot believe the lengths you would go to degrade Harry! It wasn't enough for you to drop him like a bomb, oh no! Then you must whore yourself to his worst enemy! And you act like you love that slimy snake! YOU SICKEN ME! _

_Loathingly yours, _

_Hermione Granger_

Ginny dropped the letter from trembling fingers and brought her hand to her mouth. Dazedly she finished her descent down the stairs and crawled through the portrait hole. Pansy and Millicent were waiting outside, chatting amiably with each other. They both turned to greet her as she stepped down from the hole, and hurriedly gripped her elbows.

"Your hands are cold," Pansy noted. "Your face, Ginny, it's white."

Millicent glanced at Pansy, "What's next Pans? Angel of Music?"

Pansy shrugged and opened her mouth, **"Angel of Music guide and Guardian, bring to me your glory!" **

Ginny was snapped out of her daze by the clarity of Pansy's voice, "My God! Where did you learn to sing like that?"

Pansy shrugged and looked at her feet. Millicent sighed and leaned in to whisper in Ginny's ear, "She watched Phantom of the Opera every morning all summer. Then begged her parents for voice lessons until they caved like a house of cards."

The two giggled as Pansy blushed harder and cleared her throat. As she opened her mouth another voice soared from down the corridor, **"Who is this angel?" **

Pansy raised her voice to match this new one for the next part of the song, "**This Angel of Music! Hide no longer! Secret and strange Angel!" **

A blonde girl came around the corner of the corridor. "I didn't know there was another Phantom fan here!" She smiled and glided down the corridor, her steps light on the battered flagstones. She reached the three girls and dipped her head.

"Greetings Millicent," She held out her hand to Pansy, "Very well done. And your name is?"

"Amelia Pansy Parkinson. You may call me Pansy." She took the stranger's hand and shook it.

The new girl turned to Ginny expectantly.

"Ginevra Molly Weasley." Ginny intoned, taking the offered hand and shaking it.

The strange girl lifted both her eyebrows. "I'm pleased to meet you Miss Ginny."

"I hope you don't believe those lies about me, I really am a good girl. Most of the time."

"Of course Miss Weasley. One mustn't believe everything one hears. My name is A-"

"ALEX!" A masculine voice called as loud footsteps came closer to the four girls. "ALEXANDRIA!"

"Well, yes. My name is Alexandria, but please call me Alex." She turned her head back the way she came, looking for a moment like she was going to keep silent.

"I'm here Brother!" The girl called back in the direction of the voice, "And I have friends!"

A boy who looked the male copy of Alex came around the corridor, his blonde hair may have been a shade lighter, his eyes more of a hazel than green, but there was no doubt that the two were twins.

"Hello Ladies!" He grinned charmingly.

"Girls this is my, you guessed it, Twin brother. The child's name is Damien." She gestured to her twin, who glared at her. "This is Ginevra, Pansy, and Millicent."

"Your only three minutes older Alex," Damien sighed, "Very nice to meet you three. Do you happen to know where the Ravenclaw Common room is?"

The two Slytherin's nodded. "It's in the tower on the west side of the castle; you must pass through the statue of Lord Macieleit first."

Damien nodded, "Well sister dear, let's be off. I'm sure we shall see you ladies later?"

Pansy nodded, quite intrigued by the two of them. "Wait, did you say Ravenclaw? Are you two in that house now?"

Alex inclined her head. "I am. My darling brother is in Hufflepuff. He's already found his common room and was helping me look for mine."

Millicent got a calculating look on her face as she stared from one twin to the other. "Why is that I wonder?"

Alex chuckled, "Damien noticed the lack of discipline in Hufflepuff house. He seeks to change that. As for myself…I've never been one to conform. The hat wished to put us both in Slytherin, as you can see we rejected its decision." Alex lifted her voice dramatically, "Do you think we've chosen wrongly?"

The three stared at the odd girl as she spun on her heel and swept from the corridor, her brother supplying the farewells.

Ginny glanced at her two companions. Pansy had a dazed look on her face, and Ginny could not find fault with her choice. After all Damien was rather handsome…but Draco was dead sexy. Millicent still had that calculating look in her eyes. The small redhead shrugged.

"We'll see them again I suppose. Let's go girls, Snape'll be wondering about us." Ginny linked her arms with her companions and tugged them down the hall.

"She was a rather odd girl wasn't she?" Pansy asked about halfway to the Common room.

"Just a little," Ginny replied, hating to say anything bad about anyone.

"Right bonkers actually," Alex interjected, twirling a lock of hair round her finger.

The other three shrieked, clutching each other in one of those embarrassing fits of girlishness that over take even the best of hard-core feminists.

Putting a hand to her thumping heart, Millicent glared weakly at the blonde, "Where the hell did you come from?"

"Oh, I just came from Ravenclaw; they're a rather dull lot. Books this, books that, bloody boring really. Saw another red head lurking around though, had a right nice shiner, named….Reginald? No, no, Ragsdale….not that's not it either. Anyway, daft little bint named Luna Lovegood came out right after I discovered him and they tottered off together towards some tower over on the east side," Alex paused, tapping a fingertip against her lower lip, "Ah! Ronald! That was the bloke's name! Friend of yours Miss Weasley?"

She paused, taking in the stunned faces in front of her, "I suppose not then, eh? Relation perhaps? Black sheep of the family?"

"Right bloody git is more like it!" Ginny groaned, rubbing her forehead, "He was dating that Hufflepuff, what's her name, guess that's on the outs then. I need to sit down, let's head to the common room. Alex?"

Alex lifted one shoulder, "Love to, but can't. Have to go and check on my darling brother. Papa would kill me if I let anything happen to the heir."

She had already gotten a few feet away when Ginny called after her, "But aren't you the eldest?"

"I'm just the spare Gin, just a spare." And she was gone around a corner.


	6. Brought Together By War

The next time anyone laid eyes on Alex she dropped out of thin air in the middle of the Great Hall giggling like an idiot. Her brother fell a minute later about a foot from where she sat in the middle of Harry's plate.

"That was a complete waste of…" Damien started as he looked around himself. "Awe…damn." He looked up at the Head table and met his head's look of disappointment. "Please accept my apology about that Professor Sprout."

Alex lay on her back, propped up on her elbows. She met her own head's eyes amusedly, "Hey Professor? You know that whole "ghosts can't drop you through solid rock" thing we discussed in lecture today? I thought I would test the theory."

She giggled before a sharp prod in her side alerted her to the fact that she was sitting in somebody's food, "What can I do for you?"

"You can start by getting your arse out of my food!" Harry hissed, his face flushed unbecomingly.

"I believe I can arrange that." Alex muttered scooting off of his plate, knocking his pumpkin juice into his lap, and adding the rest of the contents of his plate to the messy pile.

"Better Monsieur?" She demanded her hands on her hips as her green eyes glared into his. The gold that ran around the outside of them flared for a moment before she whipped her head away and stalked off to the cheering of the Slytherins. She muttered as she cast a cleaning charm on herself and swept by the Slytherin table. A hand snagged her wrist.

"Very good Alex, we are most pleased." Theodore noted, his eyes roving over her.

"Oh thank you milord! My only wish is to please you!" She spat sarcastically then slapped his hand away from her wrist, "Never touch me again you slimy, disgusting, depraved, depilated, pitiful excuse for a…" Her brother slapped a hand across her mouth.

"My apologies. My twin has a bit of a tempe…" Damien yelped and snatched his hand away from Alex's mouth, "You little viper! You bit me!"

Alex ignored him and turned back to her intended target. "Man. I never ever want you to look at me again. Understood Monsieur?"

Blaise stood from his seat and strode to where Alex stood fuming, "Oui Mademoiselle. Theodore will not bother you again. But I must add my approval of your treatment of Potter."

Alex looked mildly surprised, "Ah, so that was Potter. The Duce Consul informed me of him. Supposedly he pissed off all the wrong people. Namely your Prince."

Blaise nodded and offered her his arm. She placed her hand in the crook of his elbow and allowed him to lead her to the head of the table. "Draco, this is Alexandria. Alex, this is Slytherin's Prince."

Draco stood and the two nodded to each other. "The newest Ravenclaw? I see you've made quite the impression. The Consul is already approaching to rein you in." She glanced back over her shoulder.

Cho Chang and Eddie Carmichael were on the way over to the table. "Oh joy of Joys!"

Cho got to Alex before Eddie did. "What in all the seven hells did you think you were doing? Ravenclaws do not behave this way!"

Alex lifted an eyebrow, "And how, exactly, do Ravenclaws behave Miss Chang?"

Eddie spoke up, "Not the way you did Miss Alexandria."

Alex nodded calmly, "I suppose it is time for a change then." She lifted her head and met Chang's eyes. "I declare challenge on you Cho Chang, accept it or stand aside."

Cho's pretty brown eyes widened. She'd slept her way to the top, now someone was actually challenging her? No way in hell could she fight off even the most basic of challenges!

"I stand down." Cho whispered, bowing her head and biting her lip.

Alex nodded and turned to Eddie. "I declare challenge on you Edward Carmichael, accept or stand aside."

"I accept your Challenge Alexandria DeLoche." Eddie sighed, "You've disrupted our world Miss Alex. I am most displeased. I await our duel in the Room of Requirement. Have Miss Chang show you there after evening classes."

Eddie turned to stride back to Ravenclaw's table, taking his seat to the immediate left of the throne. Chang followed and sat down in Alex's old seat, leaving the second seat next to Eddie empty. This was now Alex's Seat, the position of Third was hers.

'My god what have I done?' She asked herself as she nodded to the Slytherins and moved to her seat.

"My god what has she done?" Blaise demanded as he sat back down. "The silly bint is here less than three days and she seeks to become Ravenclaw's Prince! She's already Countess, and all without the customary duel! The hells?"

Ginny gazed across the table at her disturbed friend. "I hear she's come from Bueaxbaton, she was an excellent student there. It's no surprise she was sorted into Ravenclaw. From what the Ladies and I have deduced she is quite the enchanting individual." Ginny rolled her eyes, "I still don't understand why the hell we have to talk like a bunch of arrogant jack-asses."

Draco chuckled, "It's the way official business has been conducted for years my dear. I don't see any reason to change it."

Ginny thought about sticking her tongue out at him, paused, and then flicked him a bird. Draco captured her wrist in his hand and brought it to his mouth. He kissed the offending finger until her whole hand relaxed, and then he kissed the rest of her hand, up the inside of her wrist and back down. Ginny's warm brown eyes were glowing hotly by the time he replaced her hand.

"Are you two done now?" Millicent demanded, a roll poised in her hand. "You're disturbing my lunch!"

Draco chuckled, and picked up his fork, "Yes Dear Millicent, I'm done now."

Pansy heaved a sigh. 'If Dumbledore doesn't stop calling all of these damned prefect meetings I'll throttle him! And I wanna watch my Phantom DVD Damnit!' The poor girl sighed, slumping her shoulders in irritation. She felt a finger prod her between the shoulder blades. "Not now Draco! Damn, can't even slouch in peace!"

The hand slid up between her shoulder blades to stroke the base of her neck. Pansy inhaled sharply, and tensed all over.

"I'm not Draco."

"Then who the hell are you?" Pansy demanded, as her eyelids slipped half-closed. 'Whoever he is, those hands should be registered as dangerous things!'

"**I am your Angel of Music, come to me Angel of Music." **The boy sang his voice low and soft, caressing her with sound.

Pansy whipped around in her chair so fast that the poor boy was forced to step back. Pansy looked up into bright hazel eyes, "I hate you right now."

"Awe, now that isn't fair Amelia! At least give me due credit!" Damien, for that was him alright, grinned at her, "My sister isn't the only Phantom fan here you know!"

"Alright, you have a dead sexy voice." She held up a hand to forestall the smug grin, "And I hate you right now."

Damien pouted, "Well if you're going to be a silly bint about it I'm going to leave you to your boredom and the half-hour wait to the prefects meeting!"

Pansy watched him start down the corridor, waited until he got halfway down, and drew her breath up from her gut like she was taught. "**Angel of Music, speak I listen! Stay by my side, Guide me! Angel my soul was weak forgive me! Enter at last Master!"**

Damien stopped in his tracks, 'Oh my God. She has a voice on her that would take a man to his knees!' He felt himself turn around and walk back towards her entranced.

"Amelia! That was perfect! Well, almost. You wavered on the last note." he paused, and corrected her posture. "If you draw your shoulders back a little more you'll be able to get a better range. If you'd like I can assist you in lessons?"

Pansy sighed, listening to his voice going up and down in smooth tones. "Of course, Damien. Call me Pansy, if you would."

"As you wish, Pansy." He nodded cheekily at her, and they settled against the wall to wait for the meeting. They discussed current events in the WW, Damien sharing stories of how England's troubles affected thing in France and Pansy explaining the nuances running in the undercurrents at Hogwarts. Pansy, enthralled by his voice, came to when he waved his hand in front of her face.

"What?" She snapped, irritated she had lost track of time.

"You've got to go to the meeting remember?" Damien smirked, "I'll get back to you on the practice schedule!" He gave her a little shove in the proper direction, "Ta!"


	7. To Unite a School

Ginny took exactly two hours to move all of her stuff into Pansy's rooms. She preformed this task cheerily, humming under her breath. The two girls she had commandeered from Slytherin grumbled good naturedly, magicing the boxes from outside the portrait to the dungeons.

So when Draco, who had become slightly worried she had gone daft, appeared at Pansy's door to investigate he found a pleased Ginny sitting on the new bed that Snape had put in the room. The curtains were a very appealing shade of green, and the crimson of Ginny's hair stood out vividly.

"Are you done then?" Draco demanded impatiently, leaning against the door frame.

Ginny shot up from the bed, her hair flying around her face. "Who? Wha….? DRACO CAIUS MALFOY!" She shrieked at him, picking up one of the many throw pillows that had been (until now) lying innocently on her bed. Incised she hurled it at him.

Draco ducked and the pillow soared harmlessly by his head. "Now, now pet. Why such a fuss?"

Ginny blew a strand of hair out of her face indignantly. "You're insufferable, you know that right?"

Draco entered the room and took her hand. He raised her to her feet, "How could I forget, with you constantly reminding me?"

"Well somebody has to play Jiminy Cricket for you don't they?" a snide voice hissed from the door.

Draco lazily turned to face Millicent, "Do you need a nap Millie?  
Or has some other bug crawled up your ass lately?"

"Don't push me Draco. I'm sleepy." Millicent said, brushing past the pair to flop down on the bed opposite Ginny's. "We had double DADA, then Sprout, and then I had a detention for writing in green ink!" She buried her head in her pillow, and the pair heard her muffled scream.

Draco let go of Ginny to sit beside his irate fourth. He placed a soothing hand on her back, rubbing it in small circles. "Easy Millie. Shhhhh…..Ginny and I are going to go to the Challenge. I'll tell you about it when we get back, okay?"

Millicent nodded her head and made a kind of rumble in agreement.

Draco stood and strode over to Ginny, "Come on love."

Ginny entered the room of Requirement on Draco's arm. Astonishingly she didn't trip, stumble, or otherwise make a fool of herself. The gathered people turned to look at the new comers before parting to allow them to move to the far side of the room.

There were three pairs of the 'Throne' like chairs sitting on a type of dais up against the wall. Draco took the right chair of the second pair pulling Ginny down into the one on his left. The right chair of the third pair was taken by Damien, but the left one stood empty. The pair in the middle of the two stood empty, like they were waiting for something.

Ginny leaned over to hiss into Draco's ear, "You are explaining all of this shit to me when we get back to the commons. I hope you know that."

Draco nodded solemnly and took her hand. "Look." He pointed with his left hand to a different set of doors to their right.

Eddie Carmichael strode out of the doors in what appeared to be chain mail. Ginny blinked and looked at Draco oddly but when she opened her mouth to ask, he squeezed her hand and shook his head. Ginny huffed and turned her attention back to the doors.

Alexandria paced out wearing the same kind of clothing Eddie was, which looked odd on her (as it reached to her knees). Cho Chang materialized out of the crowd and turned to address the 'Thrones'.

"The ruler ship of Ravenclaw had been challenged for. Our second has answered in place of our Prince seeing as we have none. The Challenger's name is Alexandria DeLoche, her opponent Edward Carmichael. With your permission," She glanced at them to see them nod, "Let the duel begin."

Eddie immediately conjured a rapier from somewhere or another, lunging at his opponent. Alex dodged out of the way hurriedly, conjuring a slightly larger version of Eddie's sword. She managed to get it up in time to block his downward swing, scurrying sideways as he swung up again.

Ginny breathed in sharply at this, and clenched Draco's hand. "What the hell is going on Draco? This was supposed to be a duel!"

Draco never took his eyes off the combatants as he answered her, "It is a duel Ginny. But the duels of ruler ship are conducted the same they have been for years. Any wizard, or witch, can wave a wand. But the Prince must be able to defend his, or her, people with non-magical means; should the situation present itself." Draco smiled a bit as Alex rolled to avoid Eddie's clumsy swing.

"That's stupid! What if somebody got hurt? Then what would happen?" Ginny nearly shrieked, clenching her free hand around her chair's armrest.

"That hasn't happened in years…." He trailed off as he saw a thin line of blood run down Alex's cheek. It seems she wasn't able to avoid Eddie's last blow.

But Carmichael was slowing down, his swings where lacking in the speed he exhibited earlier. He stumbled a bit going in for what would have been a 'kill' and Alex saw her opportunity. She lunged up from the floor, her sword snaking up around his to knock it from his hand. The point came to rest just touching Carmichael's neck.

Her chest heaving she panted, "Give in Eddie."

Eddie slowly kneeled, wary of her sword, "I yield, My Prince."

"Look Ginny, ask one question at a time, okay?" Draco pleaded, his head resting on the back of his chair.

He, Ginny, Blaise, Pansy, and a very grumpy Millicent were sitting in a rough circle around the fireplace in the common room.

"Okay." Ginny seemed to take a deep breath. "What the hell do you retards call me the effing bride for?"

Millicent covered her face with a pillow and groaned. Draco winced, Pansy looked faintly amused. Only Blaise seemed to take her screaming in stride.

'It's no worse than when I stuffed her pillow full of Ice Mice and she froze her cheek to it.' He sniggered recalling that particular incident.

"Gin-bug, I need you to stop yelling, k'ay?" Blaise waited for her nod, "Now the reason we call you "the Bride" is because in order for you to date our Prince, you must have a title. We can't call you Consort, 'cause you aren't in our house 'officially'. Now in the past, when people dated they did it in the intentions of getting married. So when a Prince dated outside of their house the person was called the 'Bride'. I think they toyed with 'Fiancée', but some of the tougher accents had trouble with it I believe." He looked off to his left, where Draco sat bemusedly. "So when Draco stared to show an interest in you he had to present you to his House in a suitable manner. He searched in our Book and found the clause about outer house dating. He gave you the title, which in turn let the House accept you. Do you understand what I'm telling you?"

Ginny was quiet for a few minutes. Millicent had slumped her head onto Pansy's shoulder and was snoring softly. She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms to wait for Ginny's response.

"So…let me understand. To the House, Draco and I are, what, engaged?" She seemed to go into a sort of shock then as Draco moved out of his chair and kneeled by hers.

He put his face an inch from hers, "Yes." He whispered hotly, sealing his lips over hers to quell the outrage he was sure she was going to unleash. Ginny brought her hands up to run through his white-blonde hair. Vaguely she was aware of the others leaving them as she slipped out of her chair to kneel with her lover on the floor. Contrary to the rumors, the dungeon was carpeted in a thick silver carpet, not flagstones. It was quite comfortable when Draco lay back on it, pulling his Bride with him.

Ginny broke contact with his lips to burn her way down his pale neck. 'Most girls wouldn't like this paleness. I find it quite nummy.'

Update should be out by Monday -I should think- and please review! I really do live off those you know…


	8. First Ravenclaw Would Join

Blaise snuck up the ramp that leads to the boys dorms. When he entered the Common room he crouched down to avoid the snogging couple in front of the fireplace. He crept across the floor on his stomach, humming the theme from Mission Impossible™ in his head. He rolled between two chairs and thunked into the back of the couch.

Blaise froze with wide eyes as Draco lifted his head at the noise. He slowed his breathing and attempted to think quiet thoughts as Draco's eyes searched the room. Ginny, having none of that distraction mess, yanked him around by his hair and reattached herself to his lips.

Blaise stifled his chuckles by biting his lip. 'Oh my, it seems my Prince has his hands full.' Blaise contemplated the pair for a moment. 'I think they need to cool off….'

He conjured a bucket of Ice Mice from his room quietly. 'On the count of three…Un…deux…trois!" He leapt up from behind the couch to throw his bucket onto the couple in a heated "discussion' in front of the fire. They came up sputtering, shivering and (in Draco's case) cursing. Both of them scoured the commons for whoever the culprit was, but it was Ginny who spotted Blaise on the floor rolling in uncontrollable fits of laughter. She motioned with her hand and Draco followed her finger to find his Second with his hands holding his sides.

Draco rose from the floor and helped Ginny to stand. They stalked over to loom over their 'friend'. Draco nudged him hard in the ribs with his foot.

Blaise looked up at his irate Prince from the floor. 'Aw damn I'm in deep shit now.'

"You do know you're in deep shit now right?" Draco growled, glaring down at him.

"Umm…..it was…um…Pansy's idea?" Blaise stuttered, inching away from the two of them.

"Blaise, you only stutter when you're lying." Ginny hissed, her face finally back to the color it was supposed to be.

'At least she doesn't clash anymore…' Blaise pondered before he scrambled up hurriedly and made a mad dash for the statue that guarded the door.

Draco moved to go after him, but Ginny snagged him by his pants and drug him back to the couch. "You can get revenge later. Now it's all about making up to your 'Bride'. Because I'm still rather pissed at you for keeping it a…"

Draco employed one of his favorite ways of shutting her up: Kissing her.

Blaise slowed his progress when he didn't hear a pursuit. 'Mmmmm….wasn't one of my smarter ideas. But it was funny as hell, and I'm fourteen Gallons richer.'

He was chuckling to himself when he rounded the corner and caught a glimpse of a grey cloak disappearing into the kitchens. It was a little known fact that the Slytherin commons were but two flights away from the fruit portrait. (Which is how Crabbe and Goyle had gotten so….mmm….large.) Blaise decided to let his nosiness get the better of him and followed.

He tickled the pear, and stepped through. He wasn't there but two minutes when Dobby, whom Blaise recognized from Malfoy's house, came up to him with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. "Here you are Sir. Dobby gots it himself, yes Sir. Is that all he can dos for you, Sir?"

Blaise bent down and took the plate from him, "Thank you Dobby, yes that will be all."

Dobby scurried away quickly and Blaise looked around for the person he saw come in. He heard a sniffle over by the ovens and paced over to investigate. Looking down he saw a girl huddled up next to the heat of the burner, her face bandaged from her right temple to the right side of her jaw.

He cleared his throat and the girl looked up quickly. Blaise recognized her at once as the Ravenclaw Prince and dropped to one knee. "Good evening Prince. Am I disturbing anything?"

She drew herself up slightly at her title and swiped a hand across her face. "Of course not Deuxième Serpent. Please, stand; the flagstones do nothing for knees. How is your Prince?"

"Draco is peeved with me." Blaise answered honestly, regaining his full height. 'I wonder if I should ask why she was crying? OR I could treat her like a Prince and assume it's not my business…' "Why were you crying?"

The girl cut her gold rimmed green eyes to the side before turning her gaze back to him, "It's a rebellion in Ravenclaw. Carmichael is insisting I cheated, that I used magic. But tell me this; if I used magic do you think I would now be scarred? No."

Blaise was silent as he considered this new event. A rebellion would not be good for anyone, disobedience that was not punished usually bred resentment and bad manners. The professors counted on the individual Princes to keep their house in line and instruct them in the rules that governed the WW, who to respect and how to earn it. When a rebellion took place the entire school fell into disorder. As he thought he noticed the girl's wound had been sloppily bandaged and the heat of the burners was making it painfully reddened. His loyalty to his Prince aside, Blaise could not leave her to suffer in silence. He offered her his hand to assist her in standing and smiled at her when she took it.

He noticed right away the she was a petite girl, coming to rest just under his shoulder. Her skin was tanned from being outdoors and the dirty white of the bandage did little to hide her beauty. Her hands surprised him; being calloused and rough but strong too. She was not a well kept rose, she was a wild flower. He noticed this and his respect for her grew. Tucking her hand into his elbow he started for one of the small tables in the back of the kitchens.

Blaise turned his mind to her problem as he led the way to the table. "What are you going to do about it?"

"Invoke Open Challenge I suppose. What else is there?"

Blaise gasped, "Are you nutters? If you do that any half-wit can challenge you! They'll just run the idiots at you until you're tired then send the one they want to rule while you're weak! There's another way, there has to be!"

Alex got a strange look on her face. "I could choose an Aile Guard. One of those brave-to-the-point-of-stupidity Gryffindors could serve…."

"A GRYFFINDOR? Are you off your bloody rocker? They know nothing! They have no leader, no manners, no." He bit into the pb&j violently, taking his sudden anger out on the poor sandwich.

Alex looked at him bemusedly, "Are you volunteering?"

Blaise choked on his bite of sandwich. Alex waited patiently for him to recover his composure. She offered him her glass of water and he took a long swallow.

'She's not all that bad looking, and it would only be a farce to keep her House under control until they get used to her….I could do worse than a Prince I suppose. And my own Prince just might not kill me if I ally the Houses so closely.'

He looked deep into the eyes of Ravenclaw's Prince. He saw intelligence, cunning, bravery…but mostly mischief. "I'll do it."

Alex nodded solemnly. "Then as my first act as your Amoureux À ailes, I seal this deal."

She rose slowly from her seat at the table and came to stand in front of him. He put his sandwich back on the plate and wiped his fingers off on a cloth napkin that one of the house elves had thoughtfully provided. She waited patiently for him to settle his hands back in his lap before she stepped into the space between his knees. Shyly she glanced up into his silver eyes, her own tense with nerves. She knew what she had offered, what he had accepted. He sat with calm acceptance as she placed her hands delicately on his shoulders and used them to brace herself as she leaned forward.

Giving her time to adjust was killing Blaise's self control. He had a weakness for beauty and that weakness was compounded when the beauty concealed strength. Her small, strong hands were burning through his cotton polo and leaving what he was sure were permanent marks on his skin. He kept his steady silver gaze locked on hers, reassuring her with his smile that her knew and accepted what she offered. When she finally closed the distance and placed her soft lips on his, he knew. The small sting of Ravenclaws mark being placed on his chest above his heart was barely felt, the warmth coming from her small frame more than enough to drive the small pain out of his system.

Alex pulled back slightly, her own skin stinging from the marking. She raised a hand to her chest, not fully understanding until she tugger the shirt slightly to the side. On her tanned skin was a rune, which she did not recognize, that started just above her breast and ended just below her clavicle. In shock she looked to Blaise wonder apparent on her features. He had his own shirt pulled aside and his rune was bright blue against his mahogany skin.

"Do you know what these are?" Alex's question was whispered as she stared at the dark expanse of well muscled skin.

"You didn't know this would happen? They're the runes of your house; they mark the members of your flock, down to the lowest fledgling. The runes are different for every member and most of them are so faint at first that they are not noticed until the fourth or fifth year. You will have two others appear before long, one along your upper right arm and one across your spine. The spinal one will be your leadership rune, there hasn't been a true leader in Ravenclaw in forty years so I don't know what shape it will take. Your upper arm will be your rune, the rune your house assigned to you when you were sorted."

Blaise paused and drew Alex closer to him. Her bandage had started to stain from the blood seeping through and he decided to assist her in caring for it. Waving Dobby over ha politely asked the house elf for dressing supplies and a healing potion. With a positive response Dobby wisked away to do as he was asked, leaving the pair alone.

"Blaise? Will the marks fade when I leave the school?" Alex asked, still entranced by his skin.

"It depends on you Alex. Some Ravenclaws hate their marks and wish them gone as soon as the graduate. The magic that put them there isn't cruel and will fade them if desired. They are always below the surface however, waiting to be revealed again."

"Can you read them?" Alex reached out her hand to trace lightly over Blaise's rune, her rough fingertips light.

"You're is eite. It translates to 'feather'. Mine it eite thuathail, translated 'reverse feather'. Together they give us wings. Poetic, yes?" Blaise's breath hitched as her fingers continued to trace the lines on his chest, her body stepping closer to him as she did so.

He brought his hands up carefully, resting them on her waist. He wasn't surprised to feel how solid she was, her muscles bunching and shifting under his hands. He was relieved and disappointed when Dobby popped into being next to them, startling the Prince and causing her to step back.

"If you'd allow it, Prince, I would like to redress your wound." Blaise waited patiently for the girl to decide if she would open herself up to him.

Alex lifted a hand to her cheek and came away sticky with blood. She thought back to her basic patching job and decided it couldn't hurt to let her Aile Guard keep her from scarring too badly. After all she had just kissed the man and practically groped his chest. She moved to sit closer to him, her nearing proximity permission enough.

Blaise was pleased by her show of trust and the faint tint of color on her cheeks. He took the supplies from the patient Dobby and set them on the table. Dobby excused himself once again leaving the two alone.

Blaise's hands were gentle as they pulled the soiled dressing from her face. The angry red gash that met his eyes cause a feeling of protectiveness to well in his chest. His hands did not translate his anger as he discarded the old bandage and dipped the first gauze into a cleansing solution. Warning his Amoureux À ailes about the sting he dabbed it gently to her wound. The hissing breath she drew through her teeth made his stomach clench, but he continued the pattern of dabbing and cleaning until he was sure that the wound would not fester. After he was sure of the wound's cleanliness he applied a salve to take away the pain, if only for a little while, and placed a clean square of gauze over the lot. With white medical tape holding it secure he turned Alex's head from side to side to ensure a good seal.

Satisfied Blaise removed his hand and observed. Alex's eyelids were drooping, her head nodding to her chest. With a chuckle Blaise stroked her arm to rouse her.

"Mmm?" Alex's sleepy murmur convinced him that she would not make it safely to her common room by herself. With a frown he realized that may not be the safest place for her at all right now and determined to escort her to her brother's care.

Urging her up and guiding her down the kitchen corridor was harder than he thought, getting her out of the portrait was harder, and in the end picking her up and carrying her seemed the better idea when she nearly smacked her face into the cobblestone floor.

Arriving at the Hufflepuff portrait he politely asked the older gentleman to retrieve the Compte De Blaireau. Within minutes a sleepy Damien appeared at the portrait and took in the sight before him. With a grunt he gestured Blaise in and showed him to his room.

"Just put her there mate." Damien waved his hand to the lavish king bed in the middle of his room. The yellow and black reminded Blaise of a bumble bee, but he wisely kept his mouth shut. Laying his bundle down on the rumpled bed sheets, he removed her shoes and tie before tucking the sheets around her. Brushing her tangled hair out of her eyes, he tenderly brushed his fingers over her cheek before turning to go. A younger badger showed him out while his Prince crawled into bed next to his twin.

His dear older sister was going to get payback for him being woken so late at night, oh yes. Payback indeed…

Author's notes:

OK new concepts:

Amoureux À ailes- Translated as "Winged Lover"- Alex is RAVENclaw's Prince, WINGS…..

Aile Guard - Translated as Wing Guard. Ravenclaws call their Prince the "Winged One" when not addressing an assembly.

Deuxième Serpent. - The Second Serpent. Blaise is Draco's second-in-command


	9. With Battles Untold

Ginny was currently daydreaming about fluffy clouds and happy bunnies. This wouldn't be a problem, if she wasn't also currently in the middle of a Transfiguration class.

The saucer she was 'supposedly' turning into a mushroom (although why anyone would want to do that to a perfectly good saucer was beyond her.) was instead a small blue rabbit. The rabbit twitched his nose inquisitively and she squealed loudly. This startled the poor thing and it leapt from her desk to dash across three desks to come to a panting halt in front of Hermione (who was serving as Professor's Aid).

She flicked her wand at it angrily and turned it into an extremely ugly black mushroom. Ginny glared at her and summoned it back. She was about to turn it back into a bunny, when the classroom door was blasted from its hinges.

Ginny (as well as everyone else in the class) ran for the door. She was first out and glanced down the hall way to find her boyfriend in a heated duel with none other than Harry Potter and her idiotic brother. There was a large circle of students around the duel on three sides, the fourth being made up of those coming out of the classroom behind her.

Ginny watched in horror as Draco was hit, not by a spell (those had seemingly been abandoned in the first half of the fight) but by Ron's fist. She started forward indignantly, pushing her way through the assembled Gryffindors. She was startled to see the assembled Ravenclaws cheering as Draco hit his knees. She very thoroughly noted down who cheered and who did not, then continued on her way. She was very surprised indeed to note that Luna was decidedly not cheering for her supposed boyfriend, instead standing stiffly with the other Ravenclaws who were looking on with distaste. She finally arrived within fifteen feet of the three brawling boys and raised her wand. The Ravenclaws who had not cheered raised theirs as well and they all shouted, "Stupefy!"

Instantly the three stopped, Harry's fist still raised to hit Draco, Ron hunched over his solar plexus. Ginny rushed to Draco, counter cursing him and wrapping her arms around him. She was crying, her tears mixing with the blood from his split cheekbone. She pulled back to order one of the Ravenclaws to find a teacher, she didn't care who, and bring them here.

"Don't cry love, I'm alright…." Draco whispered closing his eyes tiredly.

By now the other Ravenclaws, those she had marked as disloyal, were sneaking away. The Gryffindors seemed to form a threatening mass around the remaining Ravenclaws, who stubbornly made a protective wall around Ginny and Draco.

She heard what sounded like three people running down the corridor and eased Draco against her shoulder.

"Get out of my_** way **_you bloody wankers!" She grinned, that was Blaise, no doubt furious at the delay in reaching his Prince.

The Gryffindors looked like they were going to disobey when there was a guttural sounding curse and a pained yelp. Then they fell all over themselves to make a path for the three.

Blaise didn't run, but he walked very quickly with Alex and Damien fast on his heels. Alex nodded to the remaining Ravenclaws and they bowed to her before sweeping away down the corridor. Luna remained, coming swiftly to Alex and reporting to her in whispers.

Blaise dropped to his knees beside Draco's still form and touched him delicately. "Draco? Come on mate, are you alright?"

Alex moved to stand behind him silently, a hand on his shoulder. The blinding white of her bandage stood out in marked contrast to the tan skin of her face. "Blaise, Snape's coming. He's bringing Madame Pomfrey. He'll be okay."

Blaise glanced over at the still frozen forms of Potter and Weasley. "For their sake he'd better be."

Five hours later found Ginny, Blaise, Pansy, Millicent, Vincent, and Gregory surrounding a bed in the hospital wing. They were all discussing the nerve of Potter's attack, and what should be done about it.

"I _**still **_think we should castrate him," Ginny snarled, running her hand through Draco's mussed hair.

The rest of them (the boys at least) took a step back from her warily. Pansy burst into wild laughter, Millicent got a devious expression on her face.

"Why Gin-and-Tonic, I think you're on to something! I know just the spell to do it too…" Pansy had to stop for another round of giggles.

Draco stirred sluggishly and cracked open one eye. "Hey, who died?"

"Draco!" Ginny bent her head and kissed him fervently. When she broke off he looked up out of slightly glazed eyes.

"Mmmm…..That was nice pet. To what do I owe the honor?" He was smile was honest, content for the moment that he was in the company of friends.

"Draco_**, how many times**_ do I have _**to beat it into**_ you to take _**your guard everywhere**_! We didn't sign up for _**the same damn classes**_ on accident!" Blaise was shaking in his relieved fury. "And _**further more**_ you caused enough damage to the corridor that it took us _**ages**_ to get it cleaned up and _**I broke my foot**_ and had to swallow that _**vile**_ potion…."

Pansy stupefied him. "Hey lookie there, he does has an off switch!"

When Alex arrived Draco had been conscious for thirty minutes. She stormed in with Luna close to her side, the poor girl looking harassed out of her wits. She scanned the room, finding Blaise (who Pansy had lifted the curse from) and crossing to him. She turned at the last moment to make a bow to the Serpent Seigneur and his Bride, "If I may Serpent Seigneur I need to take your Deuxième Serpent with me."

Draco examined her face for a moment before asking, "And why is that, Envolé?"

"I have no enforcers of my own, other than Miss Lovegood. I thought I could ask you this favor, seeing as how my people risked their own safety for you earlier." Alex was through being nice, and Blaise knew she was about to invoke his status as Aile Guard, so he smoothly cut in.

"Draco, you don't need me here right now. And her people did do as she said, I'll be back shortly," Blaise eyed his distraught Envolé, "She needs me more than you do right now."

Draco nodded, releasing his Deuxième Serpent into her care, "I expect him back in one piece Miss DeLoche."

"Of course Mr. Malfoy, I don't break other people's toys. If you do then you don't get invited to play again," Alex replied. She turned to nod to Draco and Ginny, and then strode out of the Hospital Wing with Luna and Blaise hot on her heels.


	10. Bonds Are Forged

Alex was infuriated. She had called an immediate meeting in the Ravenclaw Common room, and now sat in an outrageous silver armchair placed in front of the fireplace. The effect was that the flames cast her in shadows, the whites of her eyes flashing at the insubordinates in front of her. They knelt on the floor, some of them intimidated, some petulant.

"I would like to know what you thought you were doing today? I believe that _**I am Prince here**_, by blood, oath and combat! My word is _**law**__._" Alex hissed her voice sinister. The students in front of her trembled, the power in her voice made them shiver, "Listen well, if you _**ever**_ directly disobey me again your punishment will be much worse than what I'm giving you today."

"And what will our punishment be, oh Prince?" Eddie sneered, rolling his eyes.

Ales moved so fast her arm was only a blur. The resulting thud and Eddie's head snapping to the side were the only visible signs she even moved. Gingerly he turned back to face her, his cheek split just as Draco's had been. A thin line of blood trickled down the side of his face, and his eyes bore a newfound respect as they met hers.

"Carmichael, you will be employed however the Deuxième Serpent wishes. The rest of you will be used as dueling partners for the Slytherin Prince's guards. I hope you all learn something from this. Next time you think to disobey me I will deal with each of you personally." Alex paused to let her words sink in, "I thought that Ravenclaws were supposed to be the intelligent ones of this lot, but it doesn't seem that that is the case here. I will expect those of you who stood idle today to report to me by the end of this week how exactly you are going to apologize to the Serpent Seigneur."

She paused to take a deep breath, slowly letting it out as she gazed around the room. Her loyal people were ranged around the outside of the room, and she found the number lacking severely. She took another breath and slowly reached around the side of her chair, where a dark, slender hand met hers.

"I would also like to introduce you to your amoureux à ailes," Alex was a good deal calmer as she drew Blaise out of the shadows.

Blaise stepped out from behind her chair to sweep a disdainful glare over the 'traitors', "Good evening."

There was a gasp as people recognized who he was and where he stood in the hierarchy of the school. Eddie bowed his head in defeat, all thoughts of forming a rebellion leaving his head. This Prince was strong and had formed an alliance with the strongest house in the school. Any rebellion would be ruthlessly squashed, her punishments meted out quickly and painfully. He touched his cheek, fingers coming away bloody. He was lucky to get away with just that, some Princes were inclined to be more drawn out in punishments that challenged their authority in front of the house. Being stripped of his title had put him at the bottom of the flock, and the embarrassment of being below even the nestling first years strengthened his determination to respect this new leader.

Blaise watched with calculating eyes as Eddie's face changed from a smoldering hatred to a fledgling respect. Bending his head to Alex's ear he whispered, "Alex, Charmical is a good enforcer and he knows this house better than you do right now. It might be a good idea to reinstate him to troisième aile. It will earn him your loyalty and help quell the unrest in this house."

Alex thought for a moment, eyeing the boy in question. She knew that she must position her people quickly, her aile guard needed to be assigned as well. "Edward. I am reinstating you to troisième aile. Do not make me regret this choice. Natalie Warner, Robert Lancaster, James Barberry, and Katherine Francis I am appointing you as my aile guard under Blaise. Luna Lovegood is my deuxième aile and you serve her as you would me."

Alex paused and tapped her fingertip against her lips. She had chosen her most loyal people as her protectors, and they looked pleased with their positions. While there was still dissent among the house it seemed to have dimmed to a mummer in the background.

"I do so hope that we can put this unpleasantness behind us. I would hate to see our proud house fall in favor. I will not allow that to happen. There will be a mandatory meeting in the room of requirement every Wednesday for the aile guard, and mandatory training for the flock every day that you do not have classes. Do not try and lie to me, Professor Flitwick has been very helpful in supplying your class rosters. Dismissed."

Alex sighed as her flock went up the staircases to their dorms. She swore she saw Rowena Ravenclaw's statue wink at her, and shook her head. Blaise glanced down at the motion and waited for her to dismiss her lieutenants before asking her leave.

"I'll come with you Blaise. I did promise Draco to return you in one piece."

Two days later, Draco was eyeing a bowl of watery soup disgustedly, "Ginny I love you, but I'm not eating that.'

"Draco dear, I'll give you a kiss if you eat it." Ginny replied, running her hand through her hair.

"But, it doesn't even have meat, or noodles, or crackers or…..ANYTHING!" Draco replied childishly.

"I know love, but if you eat it when you get out I'll fetch you all the food you want from the kitchens," Ginny thrust the bowl into his hands and backed away, "Madam P said that if you eat all of it you could get out. Do you want to go home or not?"

"Home?" His voice sounded hopeful.

"Yes Draco, home. To Slytherin."

Draco smiled warmly and chugged his 'soup', "Let's go home love."

Pansy and Millicent met the two outside of the Hospital Wing to escort them back to the Commons.

"Aren't you two supposed to be in Snape's class right now?" Draco demanded.

"Nah, we explained to him what happened and he gave us passes," Millicent waved the piece of parchment in front of his face.

Ginny grinned at his face, "It's okay honey."

Just then a group of Ravenclaws and a few scattered Hufflepuffs joined the procession silently.

Pansy narrowed her eyes, "Who are you?"

"We're here on the orders of our Princes respectively. Our Winged One ordered us to guard you Prince." The boy scowled darkly, "We dare not disobey her again."

Ginny, Pansy and Millicent smirked. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.

Draco rolled his eyes, "I don't need guards."

"Your performance the other night says otherwise, Sir." A boy on his left replied.

Draco's mouth fell open, then snapped closed in a tight dissatisfied line. He sulked for the rest of the trip, the three girls trying not to burst into giggles.

At the entrance to the Commons the group left them. Draco glared at their retreating backs, and then he turned to Ginny with a tight smile, "When is our next meeting with our dear Envolé?"

"Don't forget Damien, those were some of his people to," Pansy said helpfully, her pulse racing at the thought of him.

Millicent was watching her skeptically, "I think Pansy here has a crush on dear Alex's charming twin."

Pansy blushed madly, "I do **not** Millicent Elizabeth Bulstrode!"

"Oh I think you _**do**_ dearest Amelia Pansy Parkinson," Millie replied, darting through the passageway, Pansy hot on her trail.

"Will they ever grow up?" Draco sighed.

"Do you really want them to?" Ginny asked, linking her arm with his and following the two at a more leisurely pace.

Alex was sulking. Not in a good I'm-so-sexy way either. Blaise had dragged her out of her Common room to stop her from causing serious damage to some of her people. Apparently some of the fifth years were still hot under the collar from all the rousing speeches that had gone on before her lecture. Unsure how to handle it she had left those in Carmichael's hands and let Blaise escort (drag) her to the Slytherin common room. She realized that she'd probably thank him later. But for now she was going to sulk in the overstuffed armchair across from him in the Slytherin Commons.

"You can't stay mad at me forever." Blaise informed her, munching on a peach.

"I hate you, I hate my house, I hate this room, and I hate peaches," She bit off.

"You don't mean that. I am your amoureux à ailes, you aren't allowed to hate me," Blaise licked some stray juice from the corner of his mouth. Alex watched not at all surprised when she felt a slight tingle in her gut at the sensuous way his tongue worked to catch the peach juice dripping down his chin.

Blaise watched her out of the corner of his eyes, practically daring her to act. Being her Aile Guard didn't immediately mean that he was going to share her bed, but he was finding himself more and more inclined to be the one she chose to take to bed. Watching her gaze turn from frustrated to amused to aroused in turn made him want her even more. He snaked his tongue out to caress the peach again, deliberately mimicking other acts.

'Mustn't give in to him, he is only doing this to test you….' Alex was no stranger to desire and before now had given in whenever the need arose and the feelings were returned. However, with Blaise there was a deeper connection, something she sensed was more than just bed play. The potential for _**more**_ was hiding just below the surface of his smoldering gaze, offering it to her if she would only take it.

Unable to resist him and his wicked tongue she leaned forward in her chair and braced her hand on his knees. He gazed across his peach at her, his eyes dark with promise. Daring, hoping she had read him right, she leaned forward and licked the corner of his mouth, 'Mmmmm…..when was the last time I tasted peaches? I will never think of them the same way, ever again.' She teased him with her lips as she ran her hand down his arm.

She sat back with her prize clutched in her hand. She bit into his peach as he slowly refocused his eyes on her. She grinned at him, "These are really good dearling."

"That was mine, my heart," Blaise snarled, narrowing his eyes at her.

Alex smirked, licking the juices running down her arm, "So it was Amoureux À ailes, what are you going to do?"

Blaise growled and leapt from his chair to pin her back against hers. He tickled her mercilessly, avoiding her thrashing limbs and laughing. In her sense of confusion she didn't notice him snatching the peach back out of her hand until he was suddenly back in his seat, eyeing her as he ate the last bit of the peach. He magiced the pit over to the waste basket, and stretched lazily.

Once her breathing was under control Alex sat up properly in her chair. She wandered over to where he sat and leaned against his chair, "Blaise may I ask you something?"

"Of course Mon Ange, what is it?" Blaise queried, itching to run a slim fingered hand through her soft blonde hair.

"What is this? Is this some kind of magic, something to bond you to me so that you put me before yourself? Or is it something that would have come naturally, something more than a power struggle?"

"I don't know all the answers my dear," He smiled up at her and tugged her down into his lap. He nuzzled his nose against her neck, making her shiver. "I know that I want you, have wanted you since you fell through the ceiling of the great hall like some kind of faire that lost her wings. I know that I am willing to see where this takes us, power struggle non-withstanding. I want to be your Aile guard in more than just title, if you'll have me. Suddenness doesn't matter here, not in this place of magic and mayhem. We could be attacked tomorrow so why not make the most of today?"

He smirked and placed a few kisses on her skin before pulling back to rest his head on top of hers. She turned her face into his skin, her nose scenting him. She would know his scent forever now, be able to suss out where he'd been. It was a gift of hers, this heightened smell. Her mother always used to say it was the blood of her thrice great grandfather, the werewolf, which had skipped a couple generations.

There was a crash and she froze, her face buried in the skin of Blaise's neck. Two figures ran through the Commons shrieking like harpies, and a few minutes later two more strode in.

"Why Blaise, I didn't know you had company," Draco drawled, raking his eyes over the diminutive female curled in Blaise's lap.

Said female turned her head to glare up at him, "Good evening Serpent Seigneur."


	11. Friendships Made

Draco swallowed hard as the Envolé of Ravenclaw glared at him from his Second's lap, "Good evening Winged One. I didn't recognize you."

'Correction- I didn't expect to find you in Blaise's lap!' Draco's wandering mind was quickly (and quite rudely) yanked back to the irate Prince in front of him. Sometime while he was in dreamland, she had crossed the room to stand in front of him. The distinct height difference should have made the threatening look on her face comical, but Draco was far from laughing.

"Oh yes, Serpent Seigneur, I do believe I forgot to inform you of your Deuxième Serpent's new status. He has been chosen as my amoureux à ailes," Her slight blush was barely noticed, embarrassment causing her to scowl harder.

Draco felt his composure falter as he looked from one to the other, "And when did this happen? I was not informed."

Blaise straightened his posture, widening his stance and clasping his wrists behind his back. Alex returned to his side to slide her hand into the crook of his elbow. The picture they presented was impressive; the dark sapphire and emerald complementing each other as well as the two personalities in front of him. Draco surmised that there was more going on here than just a power struggle, that the potential for more was staring him in the face. He was unaware that his mouth had opened slightly until Ginny brought his attention back to the present discussion.

"Draco love, you're attracting bees," Ginny closed his mouth gently as she turned to regard the couple in front of her, "Congratulations are in order I presume?"

Blaise nodded his head at her, "With your permission of course, Bride."

Ginny looked puzzled, 'Okay, he's invoked my 'Title' which means what I say is probably important….wait a tic….' "Are you saying you have to have my approval?"

Blaise looked uncomfortable for a minute or two, his bicep flexing under Alex's hand, "As Deuxième Serpent I must have my Prince and his Consort's approval."

Ginny grimaced, "You have my approval Deuxième Serpent."

She nudged Draco, who looked like he was going to protest. Instead he inclined his head at the couple, offering his hand to Blaise in an awkward show of masculine support.

Blaise bowed his head towards Ginny with a relaxed smile. Alex felt his body relaxing from its heightened tension and let her fingers stroke his arm. She still couldn't decide if the compulsion to touch his skin was rooted in her or in the magical bond they shared and for just a few minutes she found she didn't care. The way he tilted his head to smile down at her caused her breath to catch in her throat, his silver eyes a stark contrast to his chocolate skin. The coloring was some kind of magical genetic fluke, it had to be. Alex had never come across someone else who looked like him in her entire life and she found herself mesmerized.

A throat was cleared somewhere off to the side, snapping her back to the present. She was losing her edge, "My apologies Draco. I fear I am not myself tonight."

"It happens to the best of us Alexandria, no harm done." Draco tugged Ginny to him by the back of her neck, "I was the same way with Ginny when we first got together. I still get lost in her every now and then."

Ginny smiled at Blaise, "I'm sure that Blaise had nightmares still over this past summer's events. It takes getting used to, the bond between Prince and Consort. I didn't realize what it was until we came back here. As long as you don't rip his clothes off in classes I'm sure we can forgive you."

Blaise turned a dusky red all the way to the roots of his hair, "Yes. Well. Let's all go to the Kitchens shall we?"

And he preceded them out, Alex and Ginny following along, chatting amiably. After a few moments the girls realized that Draco wasn't following them and Ginny went back to grasp his arm. Draco shook his head once to clear it of the disturbing visual image that his charming girlfriend has so graciously supplied him of his second and Ravenclaw's Prince going at it in McGonagall's class.

…

Pansy was sprawled on her bed, glaring across the room at Millicent, "Do not."

"Do too," She replied smugly, flipping through her issue of CosmoWitch™.

Pansy rolled onto her back and glared at the ceiling, "Do not."

"Do too."

"Do Not."

"Do Too."

"DO NOT!"

"DO TOO!"

Pansy rolled back onto her stomach, "I do _**not**_ have a crush on that arrogant, infuriating, childish….incredibly hot man. That is final."

Millicent flipped a page in her magazine, "You do too."

Pansy gave an indignant huff and hopped off her bed. She grabbed her POTO CD and started for the door, "And it's no secret that you like Gregory Goyle."

As she swept through the door, she heard indignant sputtering and a half squeaked, "Do not!"

…

Damien was having troubles of his own back in Hufflepuff house.

'One would think that these were the easiest going lot out of the four but they would be _wrong_. They have all the 'best' qualities of the other three in damn near equal amounts.' Damien raked a hand through his shoulder length honey colored hair and sighed.

"How's it coming me boy?" the Fat Friar asked jovially.

"Not very well I'm afraid Friar. Poor Rose Zellar got stuck in the vanishing stair again. I spent half a day attempting to calm the poor girl, then another half an hour persuading her to just think the step wasn't there and that if she did she'd get her foot out," He scrubbed his face roughly, " I think I am just going to head down to the Kitchens and grab an ice lolly."

The Friar nodded, "Sounds like a good idea me boy. Keep yer chin up! Ye're doing a splendid job of it!"

Just as the ghost turned to leave, Damien remembered something, "Friar? Are you on speaking terms with the Grey Lady and the Bloody Baron?"

"Aye lad. What is it ye're needin'?" The Friar inquired.

"Would you ask them to tell their Princes that I would be grateful for a meeting at 8:00 on Saturday, please?" Damien saw the ghost nod before he phased out.

'Those Ghosts are indispensable,' He shook his head before leaving the Commons and striding up the long corridor from the entrance, 'Wonder who else is about?'

…

Pansy decided she'd go and sing in the Kitchens with her house elf, Myrna. Carrying her CD, she left the commons and walked briskly to the Pear portrait. She tickled it and crept in. Imagine her surprise when she heard welcoming cheers toward the back.

Glancing toward the raucous table she found Alex, Blaise, Draco and Ginny all of them nursing varied treats.

She grinned and waved her CD at Alex, "Lookie what I brought Ms. Alex!"

Alex let out an excited gasp and leapt the table to hug her hard, "Oh Pansy, I love you! Can we sing it? Please?"

She laughed and tossed the CD in the air. A whispered charm and suddenly the opening strands of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Phantom of the Opera filled the kitchen. Alex looked as if Christmas had come early.

When 'Think of Me' came, it was without the voices.

"How did you get a performance track?" Alex demanded, pausing the CD.

Pansy grinned, "Internet."

The two girls quickly lost themselves in the music, singing along with various tracks and generally making fools of themselves. Alex twirled around the kitchen, her blonde hair floating behind her as she laughed with her fellow Broadway fan. Pansy was right behind her, spinning counter clockwise toward the door. She was surprised to find her momentum stopped as she came up against another person's body.

Damien looked down at the top of Pansy's dark head as he closed his arms around her shoulders. She rested her hands on his chest, bringing her eyes shyly up to his. His boyish grin lifted her heart and she smiled back at him.

"Hello Compte De Blaireau, would you like to join us?" Pansy couldn't help the breathless quality of her voice as she had been twirling with Alex for some time.

Damien felt his gut clench and his hands tightened on her shoulders. She looked confused for a moment, pondering what she could have done to anger him, and then caught the flicker of heat burning deep in his eyes. Her own heart rate sped up in response and her body leaned closer to his of its own accord. Damien's hands glided from her shoulders down to her hips and around to the curve above her backside. Pansy kept her hands glued to his chest, not trusting herself to move them.

Damien pressed her forward with the hands on her back tilting his head down toward hers. Pansy's breathing hitched as she leaned up, using her hands on his chest for balance. Their lips met in a tender kiss that quickly devolved into a heated passion.

A low whistle from deeper in the kitchens made the couple start, but instead of letting go and springing apart Damien tugged Pansy into the protective curve of his body. His hazel eyes swept the room for the source of the noise and found the littlest Weasley grinning at him from a booth in the back corner. The Slytherin Prince had his arm draped across the back of her chair with a complex look on his face. Damien wasn't sure why that look was directed at him, but wasn't inclined to go poking at snakes with sticks.

The warm body pressed pleasantly against his shifted, bringing his attention back to her, "I cannot think of anything I would like more."

Pansy went to move back towards the group but her progress was halted by Damien's strong hands at the base of her spine. She looked up at him quizzically, "Damien?"

"We will discuss this later sweetling." His voice promised heat, but under the surface was something else. Pansy couldn't wait to discover what lurked under the affable façade of the Compte De Blaireau.


	12. Games Were Played

Damien and Pansy were greeted with knowing smiles from the two Royal couples already seated at the booth. Ginny smirked at the antics of her two friends before taking a bite out of her ginger newt. (Which wasn't a REAL newt mind you, but a confection made out of ginger and sugar.)

"Compte De Blaireau, why don't you sit down?" Draco's voice was friendly, but his face still held that unreadable expression. His eyes kept flicking from Damien's hand on Pansy's waist to Blaise curled around Alex in the corner. Ginny sensed her boyfriend's distress and stroked his thigh under the table reassuringly.

Damien sighed, running his hand through his hair. "Alright Serpent Seigneur, I'll bite."

"What does Master be wanting?" Winky sidled up to him shyly, her hands clasped in front of her endearingly.

"Umm…." Damien's hazel eyes looked helpless for a moment "I'd like to have a ….um….Alex?"

Alex lifted her head from her dessert and licked a spot of whipped crème from her spoon. "Yes dear?"

"What do I want to eat? I highly doubt they have any of the Crème Bruleè that we devoured at BueaxBatons." Damien sighed gustily as he thought of the nights the two had spent in the huge kitchens below the school, eating as much of the burned sugar confection as they could get their hands on.

Alex tilted her head, "Winky? Could you get me a torch and a bowl of sugar please?"

Winy nodded and popped away, she was back in a flash presenting Alex with the requested items. "Thank you darling."

Alex grinned a little maniacally. She turned on the torch and flamed the sugar in front of her until it was brown-ish gold. Then turning her torch off she swiped the back of her hand across her forehead. "Winky?"

She looked around to find her friends had retreated to the other side of the kitchen, wide eyed and staring. Alex paused and thought of how she must look.

She was standing with a hand on her hip, her other one holding a blowtorch. Strands of light gold-colored hair escaped from the ponytail she had thrown it into to hang around her shoulders, frizz made a sort of cloud around her head. The scar from her crowning duel was a raised red welt down the side of her face. The red t-shirt (with the words: She Who Must Be Obeyed) she was wearing was spotted with sugar spats and some glitter that had rubbed off Pansy's shirt (which was purple, with a cutout over her chest). Her black lounging pants were slung low over her hips, long enough that she tripped over them. Her trainers were white, she never matched her clothes.

"What?" She demanded, glaring at them.

"Alex, Amoureux À ailes, I want you to put the torch down and back away from it slowly." Blaise said calmly, inching close to her.

Alex sighed and set the torch down. Winky popped out and snatched the torch, disappearing with it. Blaise and Damien rushed her, taking her to the floor.

Alex struggled with the two larger males, laughing. "What are you two idiots doing?"

"We're saving the sugar!" Damien gasped, tickling his twin mercilessly.

Ginny looked at Pansy, Pansy looked at the three on the floor. With a cry they ran forward to help Alex, tickling and poking at the two boys. With three of them against the boys, the two males quickly surrendered, backing away slowly to leave the girls giggling on the floor.

"Ahhah! We win!" Ginny yelled, punching a fist in the air. Her overly large tee was riding up her flat stomach, revealing the spattering of freckles scattered across the pale expanse of her skin. The black sweats she wore were also too big and had to be rolled at the waist to allow her to walk without tripping. Draco smiled at her, dwarfed in her favorite brother's clothes. He glided over and hoisted her back to her feet, dropping a kiss on the top of her head.

Alex nodded, getting to her feet and helping Pansy to hers. "Now boys, what did you learn?"

"Not to attack a girl…" Damien started.

"When there are more on the sidelines!" Blaise finished, moseying back to the table and grabbing Alex's spoon. He stole some of her dessert, smirking at her as she glared at him from across the room.

Pansy slid into the booth next to Damien as Alex sat down between her and Blaise. Draco waved over Dobby and asked for a round of butterbeers. Ginny rolled her eyes and leaned her head on his arm. When the drinks came they all wrapped their hands around their mugs.

Blaise stared into the liquid moodily for a few minutes before lifting it high, "A toast! To a long and happy rule, for all the…well for all the **educated** Houses of Hogwarts!"

"Right!" Pansy shouted giddily (as it was a well-known fact that she couldn't hold liquor of any kind…).

They clinked their glasses and chugged them. Instantly they were refilled and the teens discovered that this happened no matter how many times they drained them.

"Ohhhh…I gots it…we's gonna play a game!" Pansy slurred, draining the rest of her fifth cup. She nodded sluggishly, "Yesh we's gonna play….erm….umm….The drinking game! Yeah!"

Damien cocked a brow, "And how do we play that?"

He was going much slower than the rest of them, only on his second mug. Ginny was one behind Pansy, with Draco and Blaise in second with seven each. Alex was leading, with nine mugs to her name. She was starting to go glassy eyed, and her words were coming slower. She tossed her hair and tilted dangerously to the side. This caused Pansy to giggle and sway, bumping into Damien, whose arm went around her automatically. This caused the other two girls to laugh, poking each other across the table.

"We gotta tell Millicent! She'd laugh sooooo hard!" Ginny wheezed.

"So are we gonna play or not?" Pansy demanded slowly.

"Yes!" The rest shouted.

"M'kay, I gets to ask the first question. If you're a virgin take a drink!"

Pansy and Ginny took sips. Draco and Blaise grinned at Alex, who shrugged and left her drink on the table.

The two girls clinked glasses, "V-Club Members 'til our wedding nights!" They collapsed into giggles.

"I believe it's my turn?" Damien smiled, "If you have wanted to throttle a house member take a drink!"

All of them gulped. Ginny took two, the others looked at her oddly, "What? I belong to TWO houses now!"

"In that case…" Blaise took another one, smirking at Alex.

She rolled her eyes, "If you ever wanted to strangle your siblings take a drink for each one!"

Alex and Damien both took a drink; Ginny took six in quick succession, and then added two more.

"Whoa Gin! How many siblings do you have?" Alex whispered, leaning across the table like it was some big secret.

"I have six actual 'brothers' then there's Harry and Hermione. Who I count as siblings. Otherwise I'd have the right to kill them!" Ginny whispered back, half her petite body hanging over the table to meet her.

"Ah!" Alex nodded her head sagely and slumped back into her seat.

Blaise fidgeted slightly in his seat, "My turn! If you want to shag a person at this table take a drink. Take two if that person's sitting next to you."

They all took two shots, then grinned at each other stupidly. (You see the table was boy-girl, like so: Blaise, Alex, Damien, Pansy, Draco, and Ginny. From left to right).

Ginny put a finger to her chin thoughtfully, "If…um….you've secretly fantasized about shagging a Professor, take a drink. Take two if it was Snape, chug it if it was anyone else!"

Alex took two, Ginny took two, and Pansy chugged it. The boys looked disgusted.

"Who was it then Pansy?" Draco demanded, his expression of disbelief plastered on his face.

"Gilderoy Lockheart! Oh…and I entertained a few about Lupin as well!" Pansy giggled behind her hand.

Ginny nodded, "Well, Lupin is hot…"

Alex furrowed her brow, "Remus Lupin? The guy in the staff picture from your Third year? DADA?"

"Yeah." Blaise answered.

Alex's eyes lit up and she chugged her mug. "Damn right he's hot! What happened to him anyway?"

"He's a werewolf and it got around, like we care anyway!" Pansy muttered, rolling her eyes.

"Yeah, it's too bad that Tonks would kick our asses for even thinking about it…" Ginny complained, watching as her mug filled up again.

"MOVING ON!" Draco snapped, his girl mooning over Lupin just rubbed him the wrong way. "If you've ever skinny dipped take a drink, take two if it was on school grounds, chug it if you weren't alone."

Draco, Blaise and Damien took two, Pansy and Ginny took one, and Alex chugged it.

Blaise lifted one eye brow slowly. "And just when was this Ms. Alexandria?"

Alex blushed, "At BueaxBatons, my fourth year. We, my flock and I, all decided to go for a swim in the river. Problem was that the house elves had our bathing suits, 'cause we weren't allowed to 'parade' ourselves. So we all went starkers."

"Did you get caught?" Ginny asked.

"Yeah, by the school's Head Boy. Luckily we had his girlfriend with us and got out of the punishment." Alex snickered, "He had a nosebleed for days!"

Blaise and Damien exchanged mutual looks of anger. "Alex!"

"Wha?" She responded, gazing at them dazedly.

"You could have been hurt!" Damien yelled.

"Or raped!" Blaise shrieked.

"Or _**both**_!" They chanted in unison, waving their hands about angrily.

She rolled her eyes. "Really boys, like that would happen with twenty other girls there. Pfft."

"Back to the game!" Pansy snarled, losing her temper at the chauvinistic masculinity. "It's my turn! If you've ever…cheated on an exam, take a drink. Take Two if it was McGonagall's, Three if it was Snape's. Chug it if you got away with it."

Pansy, Draco and Ginny took three, then chugged it. Blaise, Alex and Damien didn't even lift their mugs.

"Awe, come on! Never!" Pansy whined, rolling her eyes. "Buncha goody two shoes…."

Damien smirked, "We just don't have to cheat Pansy, dear! Now, If you've ever asked a woman when she was "due" and she wasn't even pregnant, take a drink. If she slapped you for it, chug."

Draco, Blaise and Ginny took a drink, Damien and Pansy chugged it. Alex smirked. "Tell 'em who decked you brother!"

Damien blushed, "You did."

Alex nodded sharply, "I did indeed!"

Draco crowed with laughter. "You accused your own sister? Moron!"

Damien scowled. Alex grinned widely, "If you've ever gotten drunk off your nut and played a stuuupid game with a bunch of your good friends?"

They all chugged their glasses, well except for Pansy, who'd fallen asleep with her head on Damien's shoulder. Alex sighed and lazily stood up from the table, staggered and hit the floor. The rest peered down at her, and she started to giggle.

"I think I'm plastered now!" Alex declared, hoisting herself up from the floor.

Everybody else got to their feet drunkenly, and supported themselves as far as the door. Damien hoisted Pansy into his arms and started towards the portrait carrying her.

Ginny, Blaise, and Draco said their goodbyes and staggered off toward Slytherin. Damien eyed his sister warily, making sure she was solid on her feet before following.

"Can you get back to the Tower?" He demanded.

"Yes, yes of course." She waved a hand airily at him and tottered off.

Damien shrugged and started off after the Slytherin trio. Pansy sighed and turned her head into the soft wool of his black sweater, inhaling his scent of sandalwood and magic. One of her hands curled into the fabric with a soft grip and clung to him. Damien looked down at her, chuckling softly. She was a sweet girl and the weekly music practice had really paid off for her voice. Her company made the stress of being Hufflepuff's Prince lighten on his shoulders. She wasn't hard on the eyes either, slanted dark eyes and long dark hair falling to her waist. She wore it up in elaborate braids most of the time, keeping it out of her way and not providing a grip incase she got attacked. Practical was something he could appreciate in a girl.

"Damien?" Ginny was gazing at him blearily from the entrance to the Slytherin common.

"Coming Ginny. Where should I put her?"

"Her bedroom is through that hallway, follow me."

Damien trudged through the hall behind the petite redhead, his arms not tired at all from carrying his burden. Reaching the door way he met amused blue eyes from the other occupant in the room, 'Millicent?' he thought her name was, she pulled down the covers on one of the queen beds and gestured for him to lay Pansy down.

"She never can hold her liquor. Thank you for bringing her home Damien. I'm sure she'll be properly thankful in the morning." Millicent smiled down at her friend and waved her hand to change her into pajamas.

Damien nodded and turned to go back to his own common room. Making his way through the castle he heard an odd keening coming from the forest, but decided that he was in no shape to go investigate and continued on to his warm bed.

Several of his guard met him at the door and demanded where he'd been but with a wave of his hand he dismissed their concerns and paced off to his solo chamber.

'Wonder is Alex made it to her commons? Silly bint probably fell asleep in the corridor…'


	13. Duty Brings Them Together

Somewhere on the other side of Britain, at number 12 Grimmauld Place, Remus Lupin suddenly slapped a hand over his ear. Nymphadora Tonks, sitting next to him, cut her eyes at him worriedly.

"Wotcher Remus! What's wrong with yeh?" Tonks demanded, dragging his hand down and peering at his ear.

"Nothing Nymphadora, my ears were burning that's all. Nothing to be concerned about." He replied, stroking her arm comfortingly.

"Somebody's been talking' about you…better not be those chits at the ministry…" Tonks's eyes ( a vivid purple) turned red at the thought, her skin turning burnt orange, and her hair a vivid blue. She looked like the flame on a candle turned into an irate young woman.

Remus looked on in amusement. "Tonks dear, I've told you a thousand times…"

"That you're not interested in any of those 'nice ladies at work'….blah blah blah…I've seen the way that Afolda woman looks at you!" Tonks huffed, leaning into him.

Obligingly he put an arm around her, "Her name is Mafalda and she doesn't look at me any particular way. Calm down, Nymphadora. You have my heart, no one else." Lupin smiled down at her, pressing his lips to her forehead.

Tonks smiled up at him, her hair reverting to its natural black, her eyes to the natural shade of blue. "I've told you , it's Tonks."

"Ah, of course." Lupin rested his head on top of hers, "I love you Nymphadora."

She didn't correct him.

…

The morning after their little 'party' in the kitchens the six teens groggily made their way to the Great hall. Draco and Blaise seemed none the worse for wear, while the two girls dragged in behind them, eyes squinted against the light. Being a Sunday the breakfast wasn't attended by the professor's who preferred to leave the rambunctious houses on their own under the watchful eyes of the Princes on the weekends.

"Just when you need an overcast day, it's gotta be bleeding sunny!" Pansy groused, summoning her sunglasses from her room. She slipped them on and sighed in relief. Ginny emulated her, and grinned weakly.

"I need coffee. A whole lot of coffee!" Ginny hissed grumpily, folding her arms and plonking down next to Draco. Obligingly a huge jar of coffee appeared beside her plate. It took both her hands to lift it and she chugged it in three gulps. When she set it back down the rest stared at her. She lifted one shoulder and waited for breakfast to actually start.

Pansy rolled her eyes and resumed her avid staring at the entrance hall. Damien entered a few minutes later, the same benign smile on his face that he had every day, a spring in his step as he slung himself into his 'throne'. He waved at the Slytherin table jauntily and Pansy lifted a hand back at him.

Damien glanced toward Ravenclaw, and was surprised to find only five puzzled looking students. He glanced back to the Slytherin table and motioned with his head at the near-empty Ravenclaw table. Pansy caught his gaze and glanced over.

"What the hell?" She yelped, drawing everybody's attention to the empty table.

The five Ravenclaws made their way across the room to kneel by Damien's chair. They had a heated discussion before Damien growled and stood from his chair. He stalked over to the Slytherin table and bent over Pansy, slamming his hands down on the table.

"It seems that Alex didn't make it to her Commons last night. The rest of the Flight is out looking for her. These five are the Nestlings, sent with some fabricated story for the Professors." Damien ran a hand through his hair rapidly. "I've got to find her. Can Hufflepuff count on your help? Ravenclaw needs the assistance."

Blaise was already halfway out of his chair, glancing between the two Princes. Needing no permission he walked out of the Great Hall, the doors slamming behind him. The rest of the Slytherin court watched him go, some of them rising to follow him. They stopped when they glanced back at Draco and saw the cold mask in place instead of the friendly look he reserved for his housemates. Silently they sat down, cowed by their Prince.

Draco was understandably conflicted. His second in command was already gone, off hunting for his Prince. He couldn't risk letting his house get injured or killed for one person. He also couldn't risk the political backlash if he did not answer the call for help. Deciding quickly he sent a glance to his Third and Fourth. They stiffened and watched him warily, awaiting his decision.

"Millicent, Pansy. Take the Bride back to the commons and keep her there. Do _**not**_ leave the commons until I return. Do _**not**_ alert the professors to anything out of the ordinary. Gregory, Vincent, Theodore gather the oldest and the most capable and meet me outside the forest. Move quickly, time is of the essence. Everyone else, stay here and eat your breakfast. Third years and below should place yourselves in conspicuous places so that the school does not look deserted. Fourth years, go outside and do something on the green. Dismissed."

The Slytherins leapt to their feet splitting into groups and dispersing quickly out. The Gryffindors watched in confusion as first half of the Slytherins then most of the Hufflepuffs left the Great Hall before breakfast even started.

Ron turned to Hermione in confusion, "Hey 'mione, where do you suppose they're going?"

Hermione glanced up and away again, "Who cares? Let's eat."


	14. New Life Bonds Them Closer

For eight hours the searchers did not stop. The Ravenclaws scoured the castle, Damien governed the Hufflepuffs' search of the grounds and Draco led the Slytherins into the Forest. Blaise caught up with them as they started into the tree line, reporting that she was nowhere in the Ravenclaw common. Blaise was furious with himself, and his stress level shot up a million more points when Nott (a leader in the party) suddenly dropped to one knee.

"What it is Theodore?" Draco demanded, drawing even with him.

"It's blood Prince. I'm not sure if it's human or not." Nott brought his red-stained hand up to stare at it. "There's a trail though."

Draco drew in a deep breath. "It could be her, so we'll have to follow it. Come on."

…

Damien was by the lake when he heard it, an terrified scream from the direction of the forest. He summoned his house and took off toward the sound.

'Oh God Alex, please be okay.' Damien pleaded, his heart pumping out of fear for his twin.

They broke into the trees, all twenty of them spreading out into a fan. Damien shouted orders as they charged through the trees, wands out and at the ready. The outside most edges had immobilizing spells on the tips of their tongues, the leaders something a little more deadly.

They crashed into a clearing ringed by the Slytherin students. Wands were immediately aimed at the intruders. Draco ordered a stand down. "Damien get your ass over here."

Damien trotted over, hand pressed to a stitch in his side. "Who screamed Draco? Was it Alex? Have you found her?"

"It was Rebecca, and yes we've found her." He gestured to a ring in the very center of the meadow.

This ring was not made up of students, but of Thestrals. Their black wings were folded in tight in response to the threat posed by the group of students. Damien knelt down so he could peer through their legs. He saw one of them on the ground, and his sister knelt at the hind end of the thing. It seemed to be giving birth.

Damien heaved a sigh of relief and stayed kneeling on the ground. He could feel Pansy coming up behind him and putting a hand on his shoulder. "She'll be alright. I don't think they want to hurt her."

"Let's hope not." Draco replied eyeing the herd, "They look like they could do some damage."

Blaise nodded pale as death. "If they start to threaten we're going to have to leave her."

…

Alex was currently up to her elbows in blood. The Thestral mare had been in labor for hours now. Alex's spell was showing normal signs, but three heartbeats. The strongest she assumed was the dams; the other two were supposedly the twin foals she carried. The mare's dragonish head turned to stare at the girl, her white eyes glowing softly in pain. Alex murmured to her, stroking one of her skinny hipbones.

'This is disgraceful! These poor things need to be fed more! I'll bet it's that stupid reputation playing into effect again…well I'm going to talk to that CoMC professor and see if we can feed them some meat from the kitchens.' She nodded sharply to herself and under her hand; she felt the mare give a great contraction.

She readjusted her position and prepared to catch and break the bag. This process was nothing new to her; she had been at the birth of countless equine like creatures. At least with the thestrals one didn't have to worry about internal rupture like with a unicorn birth. But that was neither here nor there and the mare was progressing rapidly now. The foals head came out with its forelegs and as soon as she was sure it would not be sucked back in with the next contraction she placed her hands on the bag and pulled. Five minutes later the foal was on the ground, Alex cleaning the rest of the post-natal goo off the little thing. She checked the sex and found it was a filly, a huge foal by any standards.

'Oh no, if this one's that large the other one's probably a stillborn.' Alex glanced back at the mare to find the other foal already on the ground and moving weakly. She left the bigger one and crab-walked over to the newest addition.

The poor little thing was struggling to lift its head. It had a finer bone structure than its sire (who was standing a few feet from the mare, snuffling at her worriedly), it clearly traced its look through the dam's side. The little one rested its head back on the grass, making a strange keening noise. The Older one picked up on it and the Mare stood to usher the older foal into standing and the herd moved slowly off. The little one tried to stand and follow, making the keening noise louder. One of its wings got caught under it and it shrieked, collapsing back to the ground.

Alex sighed and ran a bloody hand through her hair. 'Alright, I can't leave it. I know it's too weak to survive in the wild, and that's why she left it. It happens all the time with the wild herds. I'm sure that the CoMC professor will know what to do with it.'

She saw the other students now holding up a hand to stall their approach. She knelt by the foal and freed its wing. She eyed it for a moment before picking it up in her arms. It snorted at her, but settled down since she still smelled like the Mare. She turned to her classmates with the thing in her arms and smiled.

Blaise approached her slowly and wrapped his arms around her. "What the hell were you thinking, Mon Ange? There are things in this forest that would have done worse than kill you."

She sighed and leaned against him, the foal sagging in exhaustion, "I was the only one who could help, love. I'm sorry I worried you."

Just then the foal nipped her and she giggled tiredly. Blaise chuckled and turned to the rest of the students. "For those of you who can't see what just happened, the Winged One just delivered twin Thestral foals. The Mare left the weaker one behind and she's obviously decided to adopt it. We need to form a protective ring around her and leave before the predator's get wind of all the blood. Let's head back okay?"

They all nodded and walked three deep around Alex back to the castle. The emerged from the forest to the glaring eyes of Professors Snape and Sprout.

Draco eyed his Head warily, "We heard shrieking, Sir. And discovered Alex missing. We thought she'd be killed."

Snape glared at him, "So you endangered all of these other students to save one?"

The groups all started denying being 'forced to go anywhere' one young girl even went so far as latching onto Alex's leg and saying she was like the sister she never had. (Her elder sister pulled her off after the Thestral nearly took her arm.)

Snape looked faintly amused at this point and crossed his arms. Sprout sighed and dismissed her house, then turned to Snape and shrugged.

"Can't find fault with them. Protecting a fellow student they was." Sprout nodded and waddled off back to her green houses.

Snape glared at his house. "All of you better remember we have a 'slimy, cheating, git' reputation to uphold! You can't go off saving people, or you'll be compared to those bloody Gryffindors! You're dismissed. A moment Draco, Blaise."

Draco froze, wincing. Blaise stood coolly glaring at Snape's staff badge. "Sir?"

"Draco as Prince you can't send your people off on missions that could get them killed! You are their protector, not the friggin' fire brigade!" Snape turned his cool black eyes to Blaise, "And you Mr. Zabini! You are his Deuxième Serpent, his second in command! You're supposed to _**prevent**_ him from doing idiotic things, not go with him!"

Blaise lifted an eyebrow, "Ah, but Professor; I am also Ravenclaw's amoureux à ailes, and as such I have an obligation to serve, comfort and protect their Prince."

Snape looked at him shocked, "Ravenclaw doesn't have a Prince. Just those two idiots that make a mockery of the whole system!"

"Actually sir I am the Envolé of Ravenclaw." Alex stepped around the two boys, the foal making that keening noise again. "And if you don't mind I need to feed the foal before he decides that I'd make a good first meal. So if you'd escort us to the Kitchens I'll explain everything there. Is that acceptable?"

….


	15. Old Scars Strengthen New Bonds

Snape lead them through the least used corridors in the castle until they came to the kitchens. He opened the door with a password, and led them into a different room than what the students entered when they tickled the pear. Draco had sent for Ginny and her guards on the way back to the castle and they joined them as they stepped through the door. This room was smaller, cozy for a few, but crowded for a lot. Dobby popped in and eyed the guests.

"Sir needs something?" He questioned, bowing his head.

"Meat, raw," Snape ordered, "Also a rag and a bowl of warm water."

"Dobby gets it, Sir." Dobby cast a strange look at Alex and popped away.

Alex grimaced and set the foal on its feet. It stood for a half-second, then collapsed to its side in exhaustion. Alex eyed it warily and checked its sex. 'A colt? Great I have a Thestral stallion on my hands.'

She ran her hand through her hair, grimacing when she felt the dried blood in it. She glanced at her clothes, and wrinkled her nose at them. She was still in her outfit from last night, and blood was soaking into her skin. She needed a shower in the worst way.

As she was thinking the colt had staggered to his feet and wobbled unsteadily. He made that eerie keening again and stepped hesitantly in her direction. He got in about two steps before his knees buckled and he hit the ground again. Alex hissed and went over to him. "Easy baby. You're going to hurt yourself."

The colt sighed when she reached him, his wings sagging. Dobby popped back in and put the bowl of meat by her hand, and the bowl of water by Snape's.

"Anything else master?" he asked politely.

"Tea please Dobby, and perhaps some pasties. Thank you." Snape went over to one of the chairs surrounding a table pushed up against the wall. "Now you will explain while Alex feeds the thing."

Alex glanced at him, "It's a colt sir. Not a thing."

"Fine, the colt then. Draco! Leave Miss Weasley to her own devices for a moment and explain your actions." Snape glared at him from across the room.

Draco kissed Ginny again before crossing to talk to his Head. The girl knelt near Alex, staring at her as she cut chunks of meat down small enough to feed to the foal. The meat was still bloody and it made her ill to watch the process, but she continued to stare until Pansy tapped her on the shoulder.

"Come on Ginny, we've been dismissed." She sighed and helped the other girl up, bracing her when she swayed. "We can go use the Prefect's bathroom to wash up, and then get to bed. We have classes in the morning."

The three girls left, exhaustion evident in every step they took. Damien watched them for a minute before excusing himself as well, helping the girls out. He pinned Alex with a hard glare as he left, his anger an almost palpable thing.

She ignored him and continued to feed the colt until his belly bulged and he refused to take anymore. He blew out his breath and let his head fall limply to lie in her lap. Blaise stepped forward with the water bowl and rag.

He looked at her as he lifted her arm, "May I?"

She blushed shyly and nodded, stroking the soft scales on the colt's face. Blaise dipped the rag and brought it dripping to wipe the blood tenderly from her arm. He cleaned both her arms and had his hands on her face by the time Snape finished with Draco. They both stood and made their way over.

"Thank you Blaise." Alex whispered, her eyes sagging wearily. It was only a little after eight, but she was exhausted.

"You're welcome, Mon Ange." Blaise said, leaning in to kiss her forehead.

Snape cleared his throat loudly and Blaise jerked back. "My congratulations Alex. Or should I address you as Envolé?"

"Alex is fine monsieur." She replied demurely, her clean-ish hands rubbing circles into the colt's neck.

"Very well. I suppose you need to talk to the headmaster about this." He waved a narrow hand at the colt, "Before classes. The Password is "jelly bean" and Blaise will escort you to the office."

He bid them all a good night and left the room. Draco nodded at them and hurried off, no doubt to look for Ginny. Blaise stood and looked down at her, his dark head bowed. He helped her wake up the colt, and then helped get him on his feet. Extending her his hand he pulled her to her feet, waiting while she got her balance back.

Alex thanked him and watched as the colt followed her with his white eyes. She took a few steps towards the door and he followed wearily. She smiled and indicated for Blaise to lead them out. She followed slowly, making sure that the colt was following.

-.-

It took them fifteen minutes to walk to the Headmaster's office, due to Alex's exhaustion and the colt's staggering progress.

Suddenly she stopped, the colt bumping her with his nose. "Blaise. You aren't going to let me go anywhere alone ever again are you?"

He chuckled ahead of her, his stride unwavering. He came to the gargoyle moments later, Alex and the colt joining him in a few minutes. He murmured the password to the stone gargoyle and it leapt aside. The colt shied and blew at it, losing his footing and going down in a heap. Alex giggled at him and waited while he righted himself. He seemed to look around (it's hard to tell exactly, since his kind lacked pupils) to see if anybody caught his fall, then bumped Alex with his nose.

She stroked him between the ears and walked out onto the spiral stair. He followed, Blaise walking behind in case he fell.

"What do you think of the name Eirian?" She suddenly asked, pausing as she reached the door.

"King of the Otherworld?" Blaise asked amusedly. "I think it fits him."

"Good. Eirian it is." And with that she pushed open the door and led the way into Dumbledore's office.

The wizard looked up at her as she entered, then his eyes widened slightly when Eirian came curiously into the room. Blaise closed the door behind him and tolerated the nudge Eirian decided to bestow on him. "Good evening Headmaster."

"Good evening Blaise, Miss Alex." Dumbledore peered at her over his spectacles. "How have you come to possess a Thestral colt?"

"I birthed them Sir. His twin sister was taken with the herd, but he's too small to live in the wild. I couldn't leave him! And if you don't mind me saying sir, why is the school herd in such a bad shape? Does no one feed them?" Alex's tone implied foolishness on his part.

"Ah, so you found our herd have you? And how did you get them to answer your call?"

"I answered theirs sir. The mare was singing last night and I heard her on the way to my dorm. I couldn't ignore her sir, I was the only one who could hear her." Alex was beside herself with the worry that she would be dismissed from the school, and Eirian! What would happen to him?

"I know you feel their pull Alex, you and your twin. I suppose you'll want to keep him with you then?" Dumbledore turned around behind him and dug around in a drawer. "Then you'll need to have these."

He placed a woven silk halter in her hands. "This was used to capture our first stallion, and he wore it until his death. The rest of his line were trained from birth as will young….have you named him yet?"

"Eirian." Alex watched as the colt nudged Fawkes.

The Phoenix hissed at the colt, who tried to mimic the sound. The three humans laughed at the indignant way Fawkes ruffled his feathers. Alex fingered the halter, "What will it do to him?"

"Nothing more than an ordinary halter would an ordinary horse. If he becomes violent however, I have this," He showed her a solid silver collar that would fit around an adults throat, "Mahar had a slight temper."

"Mahar? Was that the stallion's name?" Blaise asked, sitting down in one of the chairs.

"No, no, Mahar was a mare that was attracted by Rhys. She was a hellion, and we feared she would kill the other mares who came to join the herd. So after several weeks of tracking that demon through the forest we caught her and snapped the calming collar on her. Her temperament could not be changed, but at least she could no longer hurt the other mares." Dumbledore's eyes unfocused as he remembered the days long ago, when he was young enough to still go haring off across the forest after a rouge mare.

His musing was broken by Eirian, who had nudged a silver trophy from its shelf with a loud clatter. He spooked and ran to Alex, thrusting his nose against her. She laughed and apologized to Dumbledore. She slipped the halter on over his ears and watched as it shrunk to fit his head.

Dumbledore watched with amusement as the colt rubbed his head against anything he could find in an attempt to get the aggravating halter off of his head. "There is a stable under the Ravenclaw tower in which we keep the trained thestrals and other such creatures. It is not known or accessible to students, but I think we can make an acceptation in this case. Speak with Hagrid tomorrow after classes and he can show you where to put him. I understand that they grow quickly?"

"Yes sir. He should reach adult size in just under ten months. If I could keep him close for the first month the bond will cement and I will feel better about putting him in the stable. With your permission of course."

"Of course Miss Deloche. Remember that he is now your responsibility and if he becomes a disturbance he will have to be moved to the stable immediately."

"Thank you sir, if I may be excused?" Alex bowed her head at him and walked out of his office.

-.-

Pansy, Damien, Draco, and Ginny all sat around the fireplace in the Slytherin common room, chatting about Alex's new 'son'.

"So Damien, who did you see die?" Draco asked calmly, raising a hand to brush a strand of hair off Ginny's forehead.

Damien's eyes went unfocused and his voice was dead when he answered, "Our house in France was stormed by that faction of Voldemort's death eaters, we were eight years old. They killed everyone but our father, who was out, and our Mother's sister. Alex was in the stables when it happened, she heard the screaming and came running up to the kitchen. I was eating dinner at the time and our Uncle Regis staggered into the kitchen with blood streaming everywhere.

_Go into the woods, take Alessander with you, they mustn't get him. That's why they're here_, _for that creature -cough- Go!_

"He died as we were staring at him in dumb shock. Finally I came to my senses and dragged Alex back out to the stable. We took Alessander out of his stall and opened the doors for the rest of them. Alex rode him into the forest, while I ran in a different direction."

Damien stopped and buried his face in his hands, "I should have followed them, I knew they wanted that unicorn. They caught up with her, and in order to save him she had to kill him. Something in her died at that moment and they nearly killed her for doing it. Luckily the French version of the aurors showed up before too much damage had been done to her and scared them off. I was found later in a huge tree stump, scared shitless but alive. She had nightmares for years and probably still does. The rest of our herd was rounded up by the aurors and taken into protective custody, except for our Thestral mare and her twin. Voldemort has no need of them, so they weren't at risk. We brought them with us to England and paid a family in the country to look after them while we are in school. We didn't know that the school had their own herd."

"Yeah, Hagrid trained them to pull the carriages. Some of them will even permit riders, but you have to be respectful and bring food with you." Pansy responded, holding back tears at the story. She reached a tentative hand out and laid it gently on Damien's knee. He smiled at her and placed one of his much larger hands on hers.

"It happened so long ago Pans; it has no power over me now." Damien smiled at his friends, pleased that they were willing to be sympathetic.

"Voldemort has much to answer for Damien, and not just in Britain." Draco responded, gripping Ginny's hand tightly.


	16. Promises Are Made

Alex stumbled into the commons with Blaise and glanced around blearily at the group. "Gin? Pansy? Can I crash with you guys? I don't think I could make it up the tower steps."

Both girls nodded and led her to the bedroom. She fell asleep in Ginny's bed, the little Thestral curling up beside her on a rug. The girls tiptoed out into the commons and said their good nights.

Draco and Blaise went off to their dorms, Damien deciding to crash on the couch. Ginny and Pansy went back into their room and changed.

"Where are you going to sleep Gin?" Pansy whispered, brushing out her hair then twisting it into a silk scrunchie.

"I think I'll sleep on the lounge in the commons, you know the one by the fire?" Ginny pulled on a pair of Draco's boxers and one of Fred's shirts (The twins having always been her favorite brothers.) before brushing out her hair. "Besides, Alex really deserves the bed more than I do."

She tiptoed out of the room with her pillow (she'd had it since she was three, a lime green thing she had to cover with another pillowcase to protect it) and a quilt. She slinked over to the chaise lounge and settled down on it. Damien watched her from across the room before letting the fire burn down.

"Goodnight Ginny, and thanks." He murmured, setting his head on the arm of the couch.

"G'night Damien, sleep sweet." Ginny replied, snuggling down in her quilt.

-.-

Half an hour later Draco paced into the commons to find Ginny on the lounge. His lips curved into a gentle smile and he crossed the room to pick her up in his arms. The pillow she clutched came with her, as did the heavy quilt. He carried his bundle back to his dorms and put her in his bed. Blaise stirred across the room, and watched as he climbed in beside her. Ginny found this new heat source to be very good indeed and wrapped her arms around his waist, burying her nose in his neck. He chuckled and wrapped an arm around her waist, resting his head on top of hers. He never noticed that when Blaise got up and trudged from the room he didn't return, or the fact that Greg had never even made an appearance. Vincent slept in the other seventh year dorm, down the hall from this one.

Draco let one of his legs slide between hers, so she was lying flush on his chest. 'I could get used to this, oh yes indeed I could.' and with that he slid his eyes closed and fell asleep.

-.-

The next morning Ginny woke up slowly, her mind clouded with the scent of Draco. 'Not that's odd, I'm wearing my own shirt this time…'

Her warm chocolate eyes opened and she stretched languidly, bowing her spine away from her heat source. A pair of arms snaked around her and pulled her back, a growl following. Ginny glanced behind her into Draco's silver eyes amusedly.

"Care to explain what I'm doing here Mr. Malfoy." She asked coyly, pushing back into his body.

His hands tightened on her hips convulsively, "Something very naughty Ms. Weasley."

Ginny flipped over, causing Fred's shirt to rise up around her ribs. Draco's hands explored this newly revealed skin, braving even further up and under her shirt. His hands met with soft –bare- skin. He groaned and closed his eyes when she pressed against him, quivering like a puppy who wanted to be petted.

"Gods Ginny, you aren't wearing anything under that shirt." Draco managed to hiss, his hands tracing up and down the sides of her breasts.

"Nope," Ginny leaned up and kissed his ear, "I'm not wearing anything under your boxers either."

His eyes snapped open and he eyed the little minx above him, "You are a naughty girl aren't you?"

She pushed him onto his back with her small hands, tracing his -shirtless- chest. His hands slipped from her chest down to her hips, running his fingers just inside the waistband. "I am indeed Mr. Malfoy, but until you marry me you won't know just how capable I am."

"Then by all the hells let's get married!" Draco exclaimed, his mouth tracing her shoulder.

Ginny froze above him and sat back, "Do you mean that? And not just because you want to have sex with me Draco."

Draco gazed at her for several moments; it seemed he was really thinking about what she said. Then he slid out of bed and crossed to his trunk. He riffled through it for a moment before coming back to kneel beside the bed. Ginny sat up and stared at him in fascination as he opened a velvet box and offered its contents to her. Inside was a delicate ring, silver with a tasteful emerald setting, small diamonds tracing around it.

"This was my Great-Grandmother's, and has been used to propose to every Malfoy Lady since her time." Draco took a deep breath and locked eyes with her, "I can't promise you a happy ever after Ginny, I may be called to face Voldemort at anytime. I can't give you a doting family and I can't ever forgive some of the things that I was made to do. But I can give you the promise that every day that I live, you will be loved, that I will do my best to give you everything your heart desires, and I can give you the protection of my name. If you'll be content with all of that, with me, then…would you marry me?"

Somewhere along the line, Ginny realized that she was crying, and Draco eyed her worriedly. "Draco, Draco…Of course! I don't want anything but you, and I never will. And I will help you face Voldemort and win, because nothing and I mean nothing, is ever taking you from me. Just love me, stay with me, and believe in us. Draco, that's all I ask of you."

Draco slipped the ring on her finger with trembling hands then stood and took her into his arms. She wrapped hers around him tightly, snuggling her head against his chest.

She knew that this peace couldn't last, that they would have to go out and face all of the evil that surrounded them. But Ginny believed that as long as there were people in love, that as long as people had hope, the evil would be stopped and pushed back.

'I don't need anything but him, and I never will.' Ginny sighed and pulled him back to the bed to snuggle some more. She gazed at her left hand as it rested on his stomach and began to giggle. She placed her right hand over her mouth to stifle the sound, gave up and buried her head in her fiancé's shoulder.

Draco held her as she spent her laughter and kissed her head. "Sleep now, luv?"

She nodded and closed her eyes. "Goodnight Mr. Malfoy."

"Goodnight future Mrs. Malfoy."

And they both fell asleep dreaming of a future that could be a place full of children, laughing friends and (in Ginny's case) blue bunnies that were actually teacups.

-.-


	17. Disaster Strikes

Ginny and Draco realized something very important at nearly the same time; it was Monday, and they were late for classes. Ginny scrambled over him, kneeing him in the stomach on accident, and raced to her room. Draco muttered curses as he was forced to forgo his usual shower and run through his lengthy routine. He was forced to tie his shoulder length hair with one of Ginny's discarded scrunchies, (thankfully it was grey) and pulled on a silk shirt and slacks (which were cotton, as silk pants were of poor taste). He grabbed his robe and school books as he sprinted out into the common room. What he saw froze him in his tracks, turning his blood to ice water. Ginny noticed his arrival and crossed the room to wrap her arms around his waist, laying her head on his chest.

Pansy, Alex and Millicent were huddled together in the middle of the long couch, welts and what looked like whip lashes littering their bodies. Millicent was sobbing hysterically; Pansy had her wrapped in her arms. Alex was staring ahead of her, pupils wide and unfocused. None of the males were present, although it looked like Pansy was wearing the shirt Damien had on the previous night.

Draco looked down at Ginny, puzzled. "Ginny, what happened? Where are Blaise, Damien and Greg?"

Ginny lifted her head slowly and looked him in the eye, "They're in the hospital wing, they don't think Damien's going to make it, he fell from the fifth floor... Draco, There was an attack on the school this morning. The boys were on their way back from potions when Snape called them back. He had managed to retain most of the Slytherins, but only three or four of the Gryffindors. My brother and Harry were still there. Snape led them out, trying to get past the Death Eaters. But they saw them….and…."

"Gods, whose dead Ginny? Who?" Draco was pale, trembling in anger.

"They swarmed the Headmasters office, they….they took Fawkes, and Dumbledore….he fell…and he didn't get up…" Ginny dissolved into sobs, pressing her face against his chest.

Draco felt sick, how could Dumbledore be dead? He was invincible damn it! And the others…god were they okay?

He dropped his books, which he had clung to during the whole story and closed his arms around Ginny tightly. He clenched his eyes closed against the tears, the burning of them almost too much to bear. He clung to Ginny, because he needed her to make him feel warm.

He heard rustling then a resounding bang as something heavy hit the wall across from him. Alex stood coldly staring at what used to be one of the many stone gargoyles that stood around the commons. She had thrown it in a fit of temper, her rage needing an outlet somehow.

"They took the damn collar. The controlling collar, and they took the phoenix. Damn it!" And she hurled another gargoyle across the room to hit the wall with even more force than the first one. Alarming Eirian, who had been standing close to her, causing him to bolt to the other side of the room. There he stood, quivering, his nostrils flared in panic.

Alex stood with her hands clenched at her sides, her eyes fixed on a point in front of her, "Damn them. Why couldn't they be cowards for once? Why couldn't they just stay in Snape's room, where they were safe? Why damn them!"

Her shoulders started to shake as she sank to her knees, her arms wrapping around herself tightly. "Damien, damn you and your honor, you could have been safe! You could have been safe…you damn idiot…"

Her voice trailed off brokenly, one hand coming up to cover her face. Pansy had quieted Millicent and was watching her with a mix of pity and horror. She realized that Damien was, next to her father, all she had left. Pansy bowed her head and wept quietly.

-.-

A few days later the boys came back from the hospital wing to find Alex pacing in front of the fireplace, her arms crossed over her chest, her shoulders hunched defensively. The little Thestral colt was napping beside the couch, his little wings tucked tightly against his body.

Damien eyed his twin apprehensively, putting out a hand to stop Blaise's approach. "Wait."

On her return trip across the room Alex saw them grouped by the door and she whistled loudly. The rest of the group came barreling in Pansy and Millicent rushing into their respective mans arms. Alex eyed the group for a moment before crossing to Blaise, leaning on him weakly. He closed his arms around her hesitantly. "Alex?"

"Blaise, not yet…please." She closed her eyes and turned her head against his chest, grateful to at last let go.

Blaise sighed and stroked her hair with one hand, his eyes locking with Damien's. The other boy nodded and came over, leading Pansy by the hand. Blaise pulled back from Alex and turned her to face her twin.

"Damien? Are you really…Oh God you are!" Alex sprang from Blaise's gentle hold to her twin's arms. "But I saw, you were there! They…you…you jumped! Out of a fifth story window! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU WERE DOING!"

Alex had started to beat his chest with her fists, and he took the blows tolerantly. He finally felt her getting weaker and pulled her in tight. "Alex have you slept at all?"

She shook her head, "I've fed Eirian and bathed. That's all. It's all your fault you twit, I thought you had DIED Damien! God do you know what would have happened to me? What almost did happen to me? I couldn't lose you, not after all that we've done. Not after Mother."

Alex sniffled and backed away from him slowly, "Hufflepuff lost eight students last night Damien. Slytherin is down ten, Gryffindor the same."

Damien's eyes closed in pain, "Who?"

Alex shook her head, "I don't know, five of them were second years, two first years and a seventh year. They were on the way back from a herbology study."

Draco swept into the room, his eyes blazing in cold fury. The black cloak he was wearing was thrown across a chair and he dragged a hand through his hair harshly. "I just got word that Fudge has declared that the school will stay open, with Minerva taking over as Headmistress, She's made Snape Assistant Head, and parents of the dead students are furious. Alex, they need you in Ravenclaw double-time. Damien the Hufflepuffs are in the greenhouses with Professor Sprout. I'm glad to see you are all back and in decent health."

Alex made to go past him to the door, but he grabbed her arm, "Alex, Ravenclaw tower was destroyed. It's the closest to the Headmaster's office and they used it as a diversion. The only ones who escaped were those in classes. I'm sorry."

She nodded curtly and called for Eirian, he looked up at her whistle and trotted over to her. "Where are they?"

"Professor Flitwick has them in the charms classroom." Draco passed a hand over his eyes, feeling Ginny come to press herself into his side.

Alex seemed to crumble for a minute, then straightened her back and strode out and down the corridor. Damien hugged Pansy again tightly before following on the way to the greenhouses. The remaining Slytherins looked at each other before gathering around the commons, looking at their Prince to tell them what to do.

Blaise followed as he crossed to stand in front of the fireplace. "Those of you who are leaving, I will miss you. I understand why you're going, and I don't mock you for it. Those of you who are staying have a choice, we can stay aloof during all of this, or we can prove that we are as good as the rest of them. We lost ten of our number this morning to those bastards, and we will not lose anymore! There will be defense training offered every night from now on. I am sure you all remember Potter's group, Dumbledore's Army? I am joining. Dumbledore protected us through all of our school years; he gave himself to help anybody who needed him. I will be proud to fight under his name. All in favor say Aye."

There was a resounding yell as they stood, bowing their heads to the memory of the late Headmaster.

"The funeral is tomorrow, on the grounds by the lake. All of you are required to attend, and please procure a silver or white rose. Carry this with you until his casket is lowered, then one by one we will place our monument beside his." Draco pinched his nose. "But until then the teacher's need help in clearing up the ruble from Ravenclaw's tower. Shall we go and help them?"

Everybody to a man went and helped to move the heavy stones, they uncovered over fifty bodies, mangled and broken. And each one of these were lifted reverently and lay down beside their fellows on the grass away from the rubble. The remaining Ravenclaws showed up fifteen minutes after Slytherin did and everyone, including the teachers, backed away and let them work in solitude for a while.

They worked steadily and uncovered the rest of the dead, each live Ravenclaw placing a black feather in the hair of their dead comrades. Then they stood back and watched as the rest repaired the damage to the castle.

Alex suddenly started to sing, a song full of such mourning that the workers paused to listen. Pansy crossed to stand beside her and joined her in song, Cho joined them in counter point.

"Fare thee well,

My Own true love,

Fare well for awhile

I'm going away,

But I'll be back

Though I go ten thousand miles

Ten thousand miles

My Own true Love

Ten thousand miles or more

The rocks may melt

And the Seas may burn

If I should not return"

Pansy and Cho trailed off, and Alex pitched her voice to carry across the fields, to where Minerva Mogonagall knelt by the body of Albus Dumbledore, her head pressed to the linens beside his still hands. She lifted her head when she heard it, and a fresh set of tears started when she processed the lyrics.

"Oh don't you see

That lonesome dove,

Sitting on an Ivy tree

She's weeping for

Her Own True Love

As I shall weep for mine."

One of the Ravenclaws summoned a violin from the music room and joined them, playing a solo for a few minutes. By now even the people inside of the castle heard the song, and were coming to the windows to pay their respects. Hermione, Harry and Ron leaned on each other as they stood at the window of the Hospital wing, tears in their eyes.

"Oh come ye back

My Own True love

And stay a while with me

If I had a friend

On this earth

You've been a friend to me."

Alex stopped singing as the violinist continued to play, "I don't understand, I don't understand how this all happens, how we go through this and keep living. I don't understand how people could do this to each other and not hate themselves for it. We lost good friends, we lost good siblings, and we lost our greatest Protector. But we will live on, because if we don't we let them down. We let them die in vain. As long as one of us still stands to fight, then they aren't truly gone. I won't say that we must move on right now, because we all must grieve for the pain to lessen, and it will. Soon you will all remember the good times, and this pain will lessen. So for now…we rest…we just have to rest."

-.-


	18. Bonds Are Broken

Five months passed in which parents pulled students frantically from the school. No more attacks came; they had accomplished all that they needed to. The remaining students, every one of them, joined the DA. Draco, Damien and Alex all trained their respective housemates. Hermione instilled herself as the Lioness Effréné of Gryffindor, Harry and Ron serving as Lions Passif.

There was tension in the beginning, mostly between the three houses and Gryffindor. The main perpetrators were the Serpent Seigneur, Deuxième Serpent, Lioness Effréné, Lions Passif, Compte De Blaireau, and Envolé. Ginny, Pansy, and Millicent attempted to control the more violent aspects of these 'altercations' as Draco called them, calmly holding out his arm for her to wrap in an ace bandage.

Ginny had sighed, tightened the bandage enough that Draco winced, and eyed the trio across the room. She finally stood up and crossed the room to halt Alex and Pansy's duel. Alex passed a hand over her forehead and glanced over at her.

"What is it Gin? Trouble in Paradise?" She hissed, rolling a shoulder stiffly. Eirian was nosing about the place again; his almost hock length tail whipping unsuspecting people. He nosed a vial off its shelf with a crash and Alex whipped around to reprimand him.

Pansy laughed and glanced over to where Damien was drilling his group of ten first years in the basics. She longed to cross the room and stand beside him, the line of her body pressed into his. She shook off the feeling and turned back to where Ginny was ranting about male pride.

"They've caused more "accidents" on each other in the past hour than the rest of the DA together! It is inexcusable!" She waved her hand around, the emerald of her engagement ring flashing at the room. Pansy smiled at the sight of it, and her chest tightened with joy for her friend.

"Ginny, we've all been through a lot in the past few months. You haven't even forgiven them yet and you expect **Draco** to? I mean, they treated you like trash for three months and now you just want to go back to being "it's-nothing-let's-forget-it-girl"? It's not going to happen. It will take time and a lot of blood before this is settled." Pansy rolled her eyes and beckoned to Millicent. The taller girl came jogging over, her black hair still in its severe cut away from her face.

"Yes Pansy?" Millie stopped next to her, sweat trickling down her face. She summoned a towel from the stack and patted her face while Pansy explained the situation. "I'll dismiss the meeting then and we'll hold on to our monarchs. Shall we girls?"

And they shot up orange sparks from their wands dismissing the meeting. They called the older members back, keeping the 'court' together. When Alex saw the glint in Ginny's eyes, she grinned and moved to stand beside and slightly behind the smaller girl. She bent her head an inch to whisper some devious plan in the redhead's ear then straightened and watched coldly as the Gryffindor Pryde lined up across from them.

"Lioness Effréné, we seem to be having a disagreement on some things. As in how the rest of the houses should be handled. Now as you've taken up the Gryffindor equivalent of a throne I expect you to know and respect the rules governing inner house interactions. You are newcomers here, not the other way around. If it were not for our devotion to Dumbledore and his memory we would not be here." Ginny snapped, her eyes blazing in a contemptuous fury.

"I see, Le Coeur Du Serpent, just how much of a problem we have here." Alex's voice was cold, mind numbingly so as her hazel eyes swept over the assembled rulers. "I seem to be under the impression that you three believe that the Serpent Seigneur is not worthy of Ginevra? That he is, in fact, holding her against her will and has poisoned her mind against you?"

"Damn right he has! She doesn't even talk to us anymore! It's his entire fault!" Ron's temper flared and he moved forward to attack Draco.

Blaise smoothly stepped between them, his eyes harsh as he dared the boy to step closer. Hermione's voice sliced through the tension.

"Ron, shut up. Really, this is ridiculous! Draco has done nothing wrong! We're the ones who've treated Ginny like an outsider for seven years, and it's a wonder she didn't desert us before this! And she could have done worse than Draco. Honestly it's not like he's Voldemort or anything….oh God Ginny I'm sorry…"

Ginny's face had drained of all color as her hands fisted closed tightly. Alex took the girl by the shoulders and shook her harshly. "Ginevra! Stop it. Right now. I will not cater to your fear, and neither will you!"

An intense look of rage crossed Draco's face at her actions and he crossed the space between them to grab Alex by the shoulders and jerk her away from Ginny. She hit the floor with a thump, and lay dazed for a minute.

Draco took Ginny into his arms, her form shaking as she hid her face in his robe. His eyes were boring holes into Alex's, his mouth in a tight line as he glared at her. She in turn eased herself from the floor, her jaw tightening as she rotated the shoulder she had before, a hiss going in through her teeth as she felt something tear. "Draco. She cannot go in fear her whole life. She has to conquer it."

"He nearly killed her Alexandria. But you weren't here for that were you? No you were safe over in BueaxBaton's pampered corridors where the horrors of the real world were kept away from the mindless fools who went to school there." Draco snarled, a hand stroking Ginny's hair.

Alex flinched, her face turning into a cold mask as they watched. The light left her eyes and she seemed to suddenly be made of stone. "It is true that in BueaxBaton I was safe. But I am far from naïve, Monsieur. J'ai vu l'horreur qui aurait tué une fille plus faible. J'ai fait l'impensable, et je le ferais encore vous porc. N'osez pas me patronnent, monsieur, car je ne suis pas de l'esprit à écouter lui."

Alex's words dissolved into French in her agitation, the accent that always hovered on the edges of her speech emerging full and rich from its cage. After her tirade finished she bowed her head stiffly and made her way out of the room, back stiff and one arm hanging oddly. Her deuxième aile and troisième aile, silent until now, shot the Slytherin Prince a withering glare and followed.

Blaise was torn, half of him angry at what she did to Ginny, half of him wanting to follow her and hold her till that stiffness melted and she was again the charming girl he knew. A look from Draco kept him in place, his first loyalty to his Prince. The mark on his chest burned, glowing a dark blue under the thin cotton of his tee shirt. The ache echoed the pain his heart felt spurring him to move towards the door. Only years of iron clad self control kept him in place.

Draco glared around him, meeting Damien's eyes. He expected the twin to be angry, what he did not expect was the cold fury burning in the taller boy's eyes. The hazel seemed to glow as he nodded curtly and brushed past Harry's still form on his way to the door.

He turned at the door and hissed, "Dieux quel des imbéciles ces mortel soit, niant le véritable arrangement vrai de sagesse…"

The rest of them turned to each other with mutual fury, all of them angry with Alex's treatment of Ginny. Ginny herself was mulling over Alex's words.

'I can't truly live my life with this fear…can I?'


	19. Blood is Spilled

The weeks following the outburst were tense, chance meetings in the hall met with barely constrained violence. Blaise was watching Alex with growing worry, she didn't appear at meals for long, and when he did see her she was appearing thinner and thinner. She went out into the forest every night when the sun set, and didn't return until dawn. Eirian accompanied her on these outings, frolicking around her in coltish joy.

Draco and Ginny grew even closer as they planned their wedding, and every so often Ginny would look around the commons sadly. Pansy and Millicent were being wonderful, flipping through bridal catalogues with her, recommending catering places, sneaking ice crème up to their room. But it seemed that something was missing, and though she hated to admit it she had grown dependant on the easy camaraderie of the group.

On the sixth Saturday after their row, Ginny finally stood up in the commons and threw her wedding planner down on the table. "I miss Alex."

Pansy and Millicent looked at each other and nodded. It was true that the girl had brought a little more spontaneity to the group, her wild ideas adding a speck of fun in their gray world.

Blaise lifted his head from his homework slowly, "What about what she said, Gin-bug? Can you forgive her for that?"

It had been hardest on Blaise, the mark on his skin burning him every time she had a flare of sadness. Lately it had been a constant burn, causing a permanent ache above his heart. Unable to disobey his house Prince, he had been unable to do more than watch her from across hallways and out of windows.

"I've thought about it these last few weeks, and she was right. If I continue to live in the past, it will haunt me until I die. I can't live like a hunted animal my whole life. Yes Tom nearly killed me, but the fact is…he didn't." Ginny dug a scrunchie out of her pocket and tied her hair up on her head. "Let's find Draco and talk to him. This has to stop."

They all went out to find their Prince, each of them relieved that the tension would soon begin to dissipate.

-.-

It took them all of that night and early into the next morning to convince Draco to apologize. He insisted that they wait until Alex caved and came back to them, but at Ginny's glare he subsided.

"She assaulted you Ginny!" He spat, his arms crossed defensively.

"You threw her to the floor Draco! That's a little harsh don't you think?" Ginny had tossed back, turning her back to him in exasperation.

He came up behind her to lower his head and kiss her neck, "She hurt what was _mine_. I don't tolerate that well."

Ginny sighed and leaned away from him, "Draco, she was trying to help. Perhaps she was a little misguided, but she was trying to help."

Draco had pulled a face, and rolled his eyes. "Fine. You win. I can see there will be no peace until I fix this. We'll hunt her down tomorrow. Are you happy now?"

Ginny had smiled up at him and hugged him happily., "Yeah, I'm happy now."

-.-

So now they were all standing outside of the new Ravenclaw common room, muddling over how they were going to get in. She'd changed the riddle since the fight and none of the Ravenclaws were keen on helping them. They were about to give up when there was a scream from down the corridor, and they all jumped a foot and took off towards it.

They rounded the corner to find Alex standing over Harry, both of them spattered with blood. Hermione and Ron hovered near them, both of them with horrified looks on their faces. Hermione held Eirian's halter tightly, as he strained to go towards his 'mother'. Alex looked toward the new arrivals, her eyes dull and lifeless. She didn't seem to register their presence, instead turning to look down at Harry; he groaned softly and rolled onto his side. Hermione rushed to drag him away from Alex, letting go of the colt's halter.

Eirian took the opportunity to trot over to her, approaching her without fear and licking the drying blood from her skin. She jumped at the first contact, then relaxed and let him do as he wished. As he cleaned her the cause of the blood revealed itself. Small lashes covered her skin, from cuts as fine as razor blades to gashes that looked like a butcher's blade. As the colt licked them, the blood running from the cuts slowed, then slowly the cuts closed. Alex's eyes slowly focused on the group standing a few feet from her.

Blaise slowly made out that her lips were moving, but she seemed to lack the breath to say anything. Her legs gave out under her and she dropped to the stones silently. Blaise was running before his mind registered the fall, and he skidded to a stop beside her prone body. He franticly felt for a pulse and panicked when he didn't find one. He lowered his head to begin CPR by the time the rest of the group stopped beside them.

Draco was firing questions at the dream team, shaking his head at the answers. "You don't know what happened?"

Ron, pale and shaking, shook his head. "We heard voices, arguing, in the corridor, then we heard a scream. We got here to find her standing frozen and staring down the hall. Harry tried to approach her to take her to the wing, but she just sort of …..flared and he got knocked on his ass. Then you guys showed up and well…." He lifted his hands to show his puzzlement. "But I think we'd better fetch Madame P."

"She's already here Mr. Weasley." The lady in question bustled Blaise out of the way, and performed some bit of complicated medical magic that forced the girl's chest to start lifting again. Her eyes shot open and she bolted up right quickly.

Alex groaned and slumped back down, Blaise's hand assisting her to the floor. Ginny was standing tight into Draco's side, her hand pressed to her mouth. Pansy and Millicent were watching the proceedings with cold expressions on their faces, already running through the 'enemy' list.

Madame P attended to Harry for a moment before gesturing for Alex to be carried to the Wing. Blaise was shaking so bad that he declined carrying her on the principle that he could very well drop her. Draco shook his head as well, holding Ginny up was enough of a challenge. Ron and Hermione moved to take her, but Pansy and Millicent had her up and between them before anybody else could blink. They strode off towards the hospital wing as Blaise moved in a daze after them. Draco said he would fetch Damien and took Ginny off with him.


	20. Runes Are Shown

The group was instructed to wait outside as Pansy and Millicent carried Alex's limp body into the 'ER' part of the hospital wing. In that small section of the wing medical spells were already in place, to be awoken with a word or two from Madam P. As soon as the two girls put her down Alex was surrounded by a bubble like thing that started to glow a light blue. Poppy was tisking over the bubble and murmuring random trigger words. Pansy and Millicent stole out quickly, pushing open the doors in Damien's face. He staggered back a step in shock and then latched on to Pansy's arm.

"What happened? Can I see her? Is she alright?" His fired questions drew her gaze to his face, made her heart ache at the look in his eyes

"We don't know, nobody can and I don't know." She replied, drawing him into her arms. He collapsed at the news, and Pansy took him to the floor. He nestled his head into the curve of her neck and sobbed.

Draco was leaning against the wall, a cold expression on his face. Ginny went to him, running her hands around his waist and leaning her head against his chest. He brought his hands up to run up and down her arms.

A loud noise down the corridor made them all jump to their feet, drawing their wands and standing shoulder to shoulder in front of the doors.

"Damn it all to the seven hells and back again!" A familiar voice shouted, and Nymphadora Tonks came around the corner. Following her came Remus Lupin, looking younger than he had in years, and eyeing his partner in surprise.

"Nymphadora! I do not condone such language!" Lupin ran into the girl, seeing as how she'd whirled suddenly to glare at him. His quick reflexes kept her from hitting the floor and he ended up with her in his arms, looking down into her grinning face.

"Why thank you good sir." She leaned up and kissed him, and he hauled her to her feet.

Just as they were about to engage in some serious snogging, Draco cleared his throat loudly. They whipped around like two teenagers caught in the act (which they had been) and Lupin hastily let go of Tonks and backed away from her.

"Mr. Malfoy, Mr. Zabini, Miss Parkinson…" He was cut off in mid-sentence by Ginny Weasley hurling herself at him, wrapping her arms around his waist tightly. His eyes widened as he looked down at her and he patted her on the head shyly. "Hello Miss Weasley."

Tonks burst into laughter, holding her sides jovially, Ginny let go of Remus and turned to throw her arms around Tonks, shocking the hell out of the older girl. "Wotcher Ginny? Something wrong? I mean other than normal?"

Ginny murmured something against her shirt, refusing to lift her head. Draco strode down the corridor to shake Lupin's hand and gently help Tonks extract herself from Ginny's grip. "A friend was attacked today. We don't know who did it, or if she'll live."

Tonks's grin fell and she shook her head. "What's her name?"

"Alexandria DeLoche, a seventh year Ravenclaw was attacked early this morning. She was coming in from her early feeding of the Thestrals and….oh my god! Where is Eirian?" Ginny yelped, glancing around her in panic. "If we lose him, Alex will have our heads!"

Blaise came around the corner, Eirian walking next to him with his head low to the ground.

"Blaise where were you? Why do you have blood on you?" Pansy demanded, her hands running through Damien's hair idly. He was collapsed against her, eyes closed wearily.

"I fed the Thestrals…they needed food…" His voice cracked as he stroked Eirian's head. The young creature pushed his nose against the boy, snorting softly into his hand. He steeled himself, shutting his emotions down until he was alone. "Good evening Master Lupin, Mistress Tonks."

Pansy closed her eyes at his reversal to the past way, turning her head to press her cheek against Damien's head, a single tear seeping into his hair. Draco's voice provided pleasant background noise and she felt herself drifting off into sleep, her body cradling her lover.

-.-

Five hours later they heard a scream from within the Wing and the sound of glass breaking. Draco led the charge through the doors, to find nothing on the other side. Madam P was hovering over Alex, a potion in one hand, and the other trying to hold the struggling girl down long enough to get it into her. Damien and Blaise moved down the long row separating them and latched on to her flailing arms.

Blaise bent his head to put his face by her ear, murmuring words of encouragement into her ears. She relaxed as soon as the potion slipped down her throat, and opened her eyes for a split second. "I love you, Blaise. I love you."

Then her eyes slipped closed again and her breathing slowed. Blaise felt a tear slip from his eye and bent to kiss her forehead. "Je T'aime Alex. Je T'aime."

Madame Pomfry looked at the two boys wearily, "Blaise, Damien. I need your help to hold her while I stitch. The bigger wounds need to close or she'll bleed out faster than the potions can heal her."

Blaise nodded, gripping her hand tightly and trying not to grind his teeth down to nubs as he watched Madam Pomfry carefully directing her wand's stitches. Long neat lines of black crept like spider webs over the girl's tanned skin, Pomfry assured them that they wouldn't scar and to have no worries.

Blaise was relieved when it was finally over but he didn't let go of her hand. Damien kissed her forehead and told Pomfry that she might want to keep her in dreamless until she healed.

"Being injured brings back distasteful memories ma'am. She's sure to have nightmares and the screaming will be pretty loud." Damien promised to bring down some of her personal items to help comfort her and went off to fetch them.

Draco and company decided to take their leave, but left notes and a vase of flowers next to the bed. Blaise declined, turning haunted eyes on his Prince. The girl's pulse beat sluggishly against his fingertips the echo of her slow breathing. Draco inclined his head and escorted the rest of the group out.

Blaise conjured a chair next to the bed and rested his head next to her hand. He had caught a glimpse of her personal rune on her shoulder and it brought a small smile to his face.

'It's appropriate Alex, that your rune be elhaz.'


	21. Princes Reawaken

Alex was in and out of consciousness for two weeks. Whatever the spell had been, it was unrecorded in all of the spell books that Hermione checked. Harry and Ron joined the nightly rotation duty of the Aile Guard, to help the four enforcers of Ravenclaw keep up with their other duties. Blaise felt a constant ache over his chest when he was absent from her side and he knew that she was aware of what was going on around her. He went straight to the Wing after classes, only leaving the bedside to feed Eirian.

Draco and Ginny postponed the wedding until Alex recovered (they were sure that she would) and were now training the Ravenclaws between them. The Ravenclaws set up their own watch system for their Envolé, never leaving her alone for more than a minute. They read to her, sang, or played an instrument. Madame P promised that she could hear them, and encouraged the students to talk to her.

Most of the time she just lay on her back, hands folded eerily across her stomach. The times she was conscious she was violent, tossing in her bed and silently pleading with whatever held her. At these times, the nurse would send for Blaise, who was the only one who could calm her.

This pattern continued until the fourteenth day of her hospitalization. Her body had healed three days into the bed rest; it was her mind that was held captive. Finally whatever held her released her consciousness and she came to full awakening with a gasp. Her body began trembling as she curled onto her side, breaths coming in harsh gulps. She reached a shaking hand across the bed towards the chair Blaise normally occupied, finding him absent. Exhausted she closed her eyes and fell into her first natural sleep in weeks.

-.-

Blaise heard the news from Elizabeth Holland in potions. Without waiting for Snape to dismiss him he exited the dungeons and sprinted towards the hospital wing.

'Hell if I get a detention I'll just blow up something and he'll let me go.' Blaise mused, rounding the corner and colliding with somebody with enough force to be knocked back on his ass.

"What the bloody hell do you think you're doing you great oaf!" Blaise heaved himself to his feet and twitched his robes back into place.

"Is that any way to greet an old friend? Or have you forgotten us?" A sarcastic voice replied, causing Blaise to actually look at the people he crashed into.

"Forge?" Blaise yelped, hugging them both enthusiastically.

"Erm…nice to see you too mate…" Fred muttered, pushing the boy away and turning to whisper to his twin, "Is he off his bloody rocker?"

"No! I have a girl now you two! My very own…and I need to go see her now. You guys come you'll love her!" Blaise grabbed an ear on each twin and yanked them down the corridor with him. "Her name's Alexandria and she is brilliant. I'm in love with her and you two will love her as well. She was attacked two weeks ago, but that's probably why you're here isn't it? I heard you'd been recruited by the Order. It explains the new 'professor aides' that have been showing up around the school since the attack. McGonagall knows what she's doing."

Blaise trailed off as he suddenly fell asleep where he stood, one foot lifted comically. A slight snore tipped the twins off as they jerked themselves free with a scowl. They cocked their eyebrows at the sleeping boy, and they looked at each other with identical (pun intended) grins.

"Hey Gred?"

"Yes Forge?"

"I think that our buddy here needs some sleep, wouldn't you say?"

"Oh yes, and you know the best beds are in the Girl's dorms."

"Wouldn't let him have anything less than the best now would we, dear brother?"

"Of course not Brother mine. Now, shall we?"

And the twins proceeded to cart off an unsuspecting Blaise to the Gryffindor Den.

-.-

Meanwhile Alex was staring at Ginny in horror, "I've been asleep for two weeks? It's felt like longer than that. There are things that I must tell everyone, things I learned while my mind was trapped. As soon as I am released we need to gather the court. Have I said anything?"

"Nope. And you have seriously fouled up my wedding plans. I hope you're happy." Ginny said crossly, folding her arms and Alex made a face.

"Gee, so sorry my near death experience threw off your wedding plans. Hope the caterer isn't going to be booked!" Alex said huffily, turning her head to the side.

Pansy burst out laughing, moving to prop Alex up on her pillows. "You know we love you right?"

"I love you too Pansy. You wouldn't get away with half the stuff you do if I didn't." Alex blinked, "Why do I love you again?"

"Because I am a hott mess and you can't resist me." Pansy replied, throwing a bridal book down in Alex's lap. "Now the bride's maid dresses begin on pg 879. We like all of the ones on the first page, none of the second page…."

Alex tuned Pansy out and examined the scars left on her arms. 'At least they healed into that white color and aren't pink or something. What the hell happened anyway? I was coming back and then it's like my memory went 'poof' and was all JK about that remembering thing, we decided to delete that file. Our bad. The system, like, cleared all that out the other day and you were just sleeping.'

Alex was aware of movement just before a bucket of cold water was promptly dumped on her head. She shrieked and jolted her torn shoulder, glaring up at Millicent, who shrugged airily and moseyed over to the other guest chair. She picked up a "Witch Wedding" issue and flipped through it. "How about having it on the moor?"

Ginny tore her eyes away from the fuming Alex to study the picture, "Draco said think "happy thoughts" I don't think a grey moor is the best idea of "happy"."

Millicent nodded and kept turning, "Horse-back?"

"Too….old west." Ginny replied, moving away from the bed and picking up her discarded wedding planner. It had a date circled in bright green (of course) and with the words "End of my Life" written on it in untidy scrawl.

'Damn Draco and his evil green pen.' Ginny had tried erasing the words hundreds of times, but every time she thought she succeeded, the words flashed 'I love you' then went back to the original message.

"I think you should have it here. I mean it is one of the safest places in the WW and it's got an awesome kitchen." Pansy muttered, rolling her eyes at Alex's attempt to make a weapon out of jell-o. She glared at the mass of purple before pushing it away.

"You couldn't tell by eating it." Alex grumbled, poking what appeared to be chicken, but in reality tasted like a newt stewed in toe jam. 'Eww….stupid pain potions. Make me say stupid things.'

Her honest side laughed, 'You don't need potions to make you say stupid things. You do that all by yourself.'

"Shut up." She growled, just as Madame P was asking how she was feeling today. "Erm…sorry Madame P. Was a little confused for a minute there. I'm all better now."

"Very good miss Alex. Now take your potion and go to sleep." She thrust a bright white potion into Alex's hands and eyed her while she chugged it. "Good night miss Alex."

"G'night….page 97, third dress…."She mumbled as she closed her eyes.

Curiously, Pansy turned to that page and her jaw dropped in shock. 'Perfect.'

-.-


	22. Reforging the Alliance

Blaise was in a foul mood when he was chased from the Gryffindor Den by screeching females. "I will personally hang them both by their ankles above the lake. And then I will laugh manically as the squid pokes at them for a while…yes. It will be great fun."

A few of the Ravenclaw first years eyed him warily and took the wider path around him. They whispered to each other behind their hands, something about strong men in white. Blaise cut he gaze at them and they waved before jogging off.

"And remind me to have you both assigned to clean up for a week!" He bellowed after them, hearing them giggle as they turned the corner.

He walked the familiar path to the Wing, remembering that Alex was awake now he picked up his pace. He slowed down as he came around the corner, peering his head around at the doors warily. He was the only one NOT to have been repelled by the cursed things and he wanted to keep it that way. The doors hung there silently, mocking him. He straightened his shoulders determinedly and pushed through them. They swung a little harder than he thought and smacked him in the rear. He whipped around to glare at them, but then heard giggling from down the aisle. His head turned in that direction, finding the girls and Draco (who looked hopeful that he'd come to rescue him) pouring over yet more bridal magazines. His eyes immediately sought out those of his love and locked with hers.

His strides took him swiftly to her bedside and as he bent to cover her with his body, his lips claimed hers. The sweetness gave way to passion, and possessiveness. Blaise clenched his hand in her hair, smirking into her mouth when she bit his lip in reproach. A pen flew at his head, and he left her to glare at Draco, who innocently flipped another page in his book. Blaise leaned up away from her for a moment, spoke a disarming spell and grasped Draco's odd collection of pens as they flew to him. Then he covered her mouth again, pressing hard into her. The rune on his chest sent pleasant tingles to his neither regions, causing him to groan and rest his forehead on hers. Her small pants rang sweetly in his ears, causing him to trail his fingers gently down her face to trace her lips. She took one of his fingertips into her mouth, sucking on it gently. The rune sent another flare of desire through him, rocking his core.

'Oh Merlin's beard! If this happens with make out sessions then what would happen if we actually….oooh I need to stop her from doing that.' Blaise tugged his ear from Alex's mouth, turning a desire filled gaze to lock onto hers.

Finally, he leaned away from her, kneeling beside her bed. She looked at him from out of dazed green eyes, and then glared at him crossly. "And what was _that_ all about?"

He grinned wolfishly at her and kissed her again, "Just laying claim, my dear."

Pansy chucked a bridal book (the thickest of the lot) at his head. It collided and the force knocked him over. He sat up, rubbing his forehead, and pinned her with a glare. "WHAT?"

"If you're done? Get to work you lazy serpent." She rolled her eyes at him, and buried her nose back into her book.

-.-

They all took lunch in the Wing with Alex (Who tried her damndest to steal food off her friend's plates, as she only had hospital fare) and discussed Ginny's wedding plans.

"Are all seven of your brothers coming Gin?" Alex asked, sneaking a piece of potato off of Blaise's plate. His face clouded at the mention of the brothers, and he rolled his eyes at his girlfriend.

"Of course. The rest of my family aren't as pig headed as Ron is. They're happy for me…or at least appear to be. Still I think it best to put all of Draco's guests as far from them as possible." She popped a piece of chicken in her mouth and chewed thoughtfully.

"If any of your family decides to show up," She quickly covered his hand with hers, "We all love you even if your family doesn't."

Draco leaned over and kissed her gently, his silver eyes glowing. "I love you too."

Pansy cleared her throat and thumped her fist on top of the wedding planner, "Ginny! We only have like, six months until graduation. We need to get things done!"

"I know Pansy, I know!" Ginny tugged the planner over to herself, "Draco have you decided on a color scheme yet?"

"Emerald and silver of course!" Draco responded, tugging on one of her curls.

"Shouldn't we incorporate something from my history too Draco? Seriously, it's not all about you!" Ginny indignantly smacked the back of his head with her planner, "How about emerald and gold? Or Ruby and silver?"

"I suppose ruby and silver wouldn't be that bad. It does look good on everyone…"

"Thank you. Now, girls, as soon as Alex is released we have fittings at the bridal shop in hogsmead that we need to attend to. Draco and Blaise, you two have dress robe fittings the day after tomorrow, please update the tailor of the new colors. I will have Hermione notify the headmistress of the date and time that we'd like the grounds for the reception and get things in order for the great hall. If I'm forgetting anything feel free to let me know." Ginny saluted them sharply as she stood and gathered her things. "Alex, hugs and kisses but I have class or I will not be graduating with the rest of you!"

"Bye Gin, I think Poppy's going to force another of those damn potions down my throat anyway. I can't wait to get the hell out of here!" Alex waved as her friends were shooed out of the wing and grudgingly drank the potion forced into her hand.


	23. Through Hell

The next trip to Hogsmeade was filled with a nervous anticipation. Alex, Pansy and Millicent were dragging Ginny off to the Bridal Shoppe to try out the dresses there. Draco had given her his Gringotts account number, with his signet ring.

"That should get you whatever you want. Any fool will recognize it. Oh," Draco's eyes lit up, "Mother says to kiss you and tell you she's happy for us."

Ginny ducked his lips to demand, "Oh did she now?"

Draco growled and pulled her back, "Yes, it was Lucius's philosophy any way Gin. She's…well she's mum. You'll meet her soon."

Ginny let herself be kissed thoroughly, until she was yanked from Draco's arms and dragged off. Alex trailed behind the three, her hair tied up in a horsetail. Eirian was staying behind for flying lessons with Blaise and Harry.

"Oh we're off to see the Witch, the wonderful witch of the Shoppe…" Alex hummed, skipping in a very 'Ozzy' fashion.

-.-

"Well?" Ginny turned to eye the three girls sprawled out on a couch across from the bank of mirrors.

Two thumbs up, one down. Ginny huffed and glared at Pansy. "This is the fifth one _**you've**_ disagreed on!"

"Well it's not perfect! The neckline is off on the left, and there aren't enough pearls on the bodice." Pansy replied, idly twirling a strand of hair.

Ginny huffed and spun on her heel to change into the next one. Alex grinned at Pansy, "You're doing this to aggravate her, aren't you?"

Pansy looked at her with large doe eyes, "I would never!"

Millicent snorted into her pina coloda, "Oh yes you would…"

Ginny stepped out of the dressing room in the most perfect dress any of them could have wanted. It had a full skirt, and a sweetheart neck. The bodice was beaded with clear crystal and pearls, forming a "v" where it met the skirt. A shear material attached at the thin straps of the shoulders, the drape achieved from the weight of the pearls lining the edges. On Ginny's feet were (can you guess?) crystal shoes, charmed to be comfortable and unbreakable. There was a spun silver tiara on her head, perched among her auburn curls, and the veil that drifted from it seemed fine enough to catch fairies (though this wasn't recommended, as fairies were nasty things by nature.).

Ginny looked at her friends oddly, Alex was grinning like a child, Pansy was clutching her glass tight enough to break it, and Millicent was nodding approvingly. "Well?"

All three girls gave the thumbs up sign and Ginny smiled, happy to have the dress shopping done….well done for HER anyway. Those three….oh but they would pay!

-.-

Five and a half hours later, Ginny was working her way through an ice crème one of the nice sales ladies had provided for her. "Might as well come out girls, standing in there won't get it over with any faster!"

The three girls stepped out from behind the door, Alex slinking out and trying to make a run for the door. Ginny paralyzed her and floated her back. She unfroze her and glared. "And where were you going young miss!"

"Uh…..to get…ice crème?" She replied lamely, shrugging her bare shoulders.

The dresses were by far the best they had tried on (including a horrid taffeta confection that had caused a riot when presented to the bridesmaids.) and flattered each and every one of their figures. Strapless and made of silk the gowns trailed on the floor with patterns of small crystal beads trailed from the right hip and down into the train. It could be made in any color, and the beaded patterns changed to anything she wanted. Ginny smiled and nodded, waving over the relieved seamstress.

"I'll need these three, fitted and with…mmm…" Ginny got a devious smirk on her face, "The blonde needs a beaded raven, the brunette an…mmmm…badger?" Ginny chuckled at the outraged look on her friend's face, "And a snake on the last. I'll send in my other bridesmaid later in the week, she'll need a lion on hers. Thank you very much for your help. We'll be in later in the week."

The three girls (one of whom was an unbecoming shade of red) sighed in relief and ducked into the dressing rooms to change. Alex was teasing Pansy mercilessly about the status of her relationship, hinting at a marriage.

"I've always wanted a sister Pans! Papa will be so happy!" Alex clasped her hands under her chin in a mock innocent expression, "And Nieces! Nephews even!"

Pansy having reached the highest blush she could, glared at Alex as Millicent magicked the dresses back onto their hangers. "And shall we have a double wedding then? After all we wouldn't want you to feel left out!"

Alex smiled sweetly and led the way out of the dressing room.

-.-

After what was later called the Day-of-Hell, Ginny and the girls all trotted down to Rosemerta's intent on a butterbeer. The biting winds of mid-January cut through the cloak Draco had forced on her, and Ginny silently blessed him for dressing her in his (rather large) sweater too. (who knew that Narcissa loved to knit almost as much as Molly Weasley, though she used a very fine stitch and the richest Alpaca she could find.) Ginny smiled and rubbed her face against the high turtle neck inhaling his scent.

"GINEVRA ELIZABETH-MOLLY-ANNE WEASELY MALFOY! PAY ATTENTION!" Alex screeched, waving a hand in front of her face frantically.

Ginny grimaced at hearing her full (For she counted the 'Malfoy' bit as part of her name.) name. "I need to get that changed to just 'Ginevra E.M.A.W. Malfoy…..actually I'm going to drop all of it except…Elizabeth. And in order to appease Mum and Aunt Anne I'll name the first two girls after them." Ginny's face lit up, thinking about all of the wonderful little ferret children she would whelp in the future.

"Ginny!" Alex screamed, throwing herself in front of the dazed girl. Ginny crashed into her, and fell on her butt.

"Owww! What was that for?" Ginny sat in the middle of a snow bank, a low wall behind Alex, "Oh….erm…Thanks Alex."

"You're welcome you silly chit." Millicent and Pansy swept past them and into the bar, Ginny and Alex following close behind, giggling at the oddity of it all.

-.-

Draco, Blaise, Damien and Greg all sat around a table in the Hogshead, cradling a warm cider. They were chatting about something or another when the girls strode through the doors, knocking snow from their hair, and blowing on their hands to get warmth back into them.

Pansy smiled when she saw Damien rise to meet her, she yelped when he pulled her down to sit in his lap.

"So how was the shopping?" He asked innocently, taking a sip of his drink.

"You don't EVEN want to know…" She put her head on his shoulder and sighed, her breath fanning out across his neck.


	24. And Challenge

Ginny was sitting down at a table in the Ravenclaw common room, mercifully alone. She had all of her wedding stuff out in front of her and she was dictating to a hovering quill.

"Alright I've gotten the food, the dresses, the reception's at the manor…Mother'll take care of that, ummm….what else?" Ginny gazed at the planner in front of her blankly. She pulled out her checklist (she'd snagged it from the bridal shoppe.) and scanned it.

'Dresses, check, Food, check, reception, check, flowers? NOT CHECK AHHH!'

"I NEED TO ORDER THE FLOWERS!" Ginny dashed over to the fire and flooed the manor.

Narcissa Malfoy's face hovered in the green flames, "What is it child?"

"I forgot the Flowers, mother! What am I going to do!" Ginny wailed, her hands rubbing circles on her forehead.

Narcissa stifled a giggle and reminded her that the wedding was in a month. "With the name of Malfoy you can get anything done you'd like my dear. What flowers do you want?"

Ginny thought for a minute, "Silver orchids and red roses, do you think that's okay?"

"I think it will be fine dear. I'll get it taken care of. Have you flooed your Mum this morning?"

"No. I haven't even told her about the wedding yet…I was kind of hoping to announce it in the paper and then see what happened." Ginny sighed, pulling her cascade of curls back away from her face.

"Oh dear, that won't do! What if they cause a riot at the wedding?" Narcissa wrinkled her nose, "It simply won't do. Is my son around?"

"No mother, He's been banished to his own common room for trying to redecorate Ravenclaw's." Ginny smiled brightly, "I can go fetch him if you'd like!"

No sooner than the words were out of her mouth Ginny was flying down the corridor toward Slytherin. Narcissa smiled wryly and shook her head.

"Young love…pfft."

Ginny came into the common room at a sprint, and launched herself into Draco's arms.

He caught her and kissed her head, "And to what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Your mum wants you to floo her." Ginny replied, nuzzling his neck.

He rolled his eyes and tightened his arms. "Any reason why?"

"Wedding crap. Why didn't we elope again?" She blew in his ear, causing a pleasant shiver to run down his spine.

"Because Malfoy's do not elope. We have large expensive ceremonies and invite people we hate so we can rub it in their faces." Draco bent his head to kiss his way up her neck. She sighed and tilted her head back, making the little mewing noises he thought were adorable.

A throat cleared itself from the door. "Pardon moi!"

"PANSY!" Ginny shrieked, as Draco bent her backwards and kissed her thoroughly.

"Well! I say!" Pansy grinned at two of her best friends, and threw herself down on the couch in front of the fireplace. "I came to bring the cake samples, but if you aren't interested…."

Draco dropped Ginny down onto the couch and sat himself down next to Pansy. "Cake you say?"

Pansy laughed as Ginny sulked, and pulled a bag out of her pocket. "Yes, from four different bakeries." She unshrunk the bag.

Draco sampled all four, then picked two. "Here Gin, you try these two."

Ginny ate the rest of both of them, and decided on the one that came from a small caterer called, "A Divine Temptation".

Draco smirked and turned to Pansy with an expectant look. "IF that's all?"

Pansy rolled her eyes and left the two to their own devices.

_Two days later…_

Ginny was seated on a couch in Slytherin Common waiting for her mum to arrive. Draco had taken to pacing behind the couch, dragging his hand across her shoulders whenever he passed her. She held her Charms essay in hand, making corrections with a red quill. Her head snapped up every time the fire cracked, and then she would slowly go back to her homework. She'd been doing this for two hours and her neck was starting to hurt. As soon as she'd brought a hand up to rub it Draco was there, easing his own hands to rub her neck. She sighed and leaned her head forward. His fingers smoothed out the knots in her fair skin, stroking softly up and down the sides.

Two people were watching this tender scene play out as they stood slightly away from the fireplace, brushing soot from their clothes. Arthur and Molly Weasely glanced at each other, then avidly watched their daughter interacting with her fiancé . Ginny lolled her head back to gaze up at Draco, who gave a low chuckle before bending down to kiss her gently.

Arthur cleared his throat loudly. Draco's head shot towards them, his hand immediately going for his wand. Arthur raised his hands, "Easy there lad! We're not going to hurt you."

Ginny climbed over the couch and stood behind Draco's shoulder, pressing it with her own. She ran her hand down his arm to tangle with his, "Hello Mum, Dad."

"Hello dear, Draco." Arthur replied, tugging Molly forward. "Say hello Molly."

"Hello." She grumbled, narrowing her eyes at the way Ginny lay her head on Draco's (or in her mind- Spawn of Satan's) shoulder. He drew her against him and nodded a polite hello to her parents.

"Mum!" She snapped, her chocolate eyes flashing, Draco tightened his hand on hers. "Mum, I am marrying him and there's nothing you or anyone else can do to stop me!"

"But Ginny, dear, why can't you marry-" Molly started.

Ginny's eyes burned, "If you say Harry Potter I will banish you from my life forever."

Molly looked shocked, "Is this what hanging around with Slytherins has taught you? Threatening your own Mum!"

"No Mum. It was hanging around Slytherins that taught me how to get around in present day society. No one is going to stand up for my opinions, except me! So that's what I'm doing. I love him Mum, and I am marrying him."

Molly's eyes filled with tears as she turned away from the two of them. Arthur nodded to Ginny, and crossed the room to shake Draco's hand. "Welcome to the family. Don't worry, she'll come around. Didn't like Bill's wife either."

As Arthur was saying this Alex and Blaise dragged themselves into the common room. They straightened as the sight of the eldest Weasleys came into their field of vision.

"Mr. and Mrs. Weasley what a pleasant surprise." Blaise murmured shaking Arthur's hand. Alex nodded to him and went to flop on the couch.

"My lady is Alexandria DeLoche, recently transferred from France." Blaise informed Mr. Weasley, glancing over at her. "I trust you and your wife will be at the wedding in two weeks?"

"Of course Mr. Zabini. We wouldn't miss it." Arthur replied, "However if you'll kindly excuse us, I've got to take Molly home."

And so he did, sweeping her out of the room with firm pressure on her elbow.

As soon as they disappeared Ginny sagged in Draco's arms, her face turning to his chest. She rested there for a full five minutes while she and Draco gathered themselves from the confrontation. She felt him start to chuckle, the echo of it vibrating against her face. She lifted her head and looked at him, "Something funny here?"

Her queer look only served to drive him further into his mirth. She rolled her eyes and let him wear himself out, tapping a foot against the stone floor. "I've good news, pet. We still get to have children!" Draco managed to choke out before he dissolved into mirthful giggles again.

-.-

The Next day found Alex and Damien in front of Ginny and Draco, their eyes large and incredulous.

"Alex, please sing it for us." Ginny pleaded, her hands clasped in front of her.

"But Gin, he's my brother!" Alex protested, "Why don't you have Pansy and Damien sing it? Pansy can sing as well as I can, besides I have a surprise planned for the wedding that I can't do if everyone hears me before it!"

Ginny pondered this, and then nodded her head. "Okay, but it better be a good surprise missy."

Damien rolled his eyes, "And I don't get an opinion why?"

"Because we're male mate. And as such we don't know anything about planning a wedding." Draco muttered, sighing in a long suffering manner.

Ginny elbowed him, "Did you give the scores to Professor Flitwick?"

"Yes, you wedding nazi!" He replied, dragging her to his side. She turned her head and bit his arm.

Alex and Damien excused themselves, and trotted off to practice their respective wedding assignments.

Draco lifted his eyebrow at his fiancée and patiently waited for her explanation. When none was forth coming he opened his mouth to ask her. She simply reached up and sealed his mouth with hers, humming into his mouth. His eyes widened and he was in shock for a whole minute before figuring out that she was doing this to distract him.

He pulled away from her and pressed her down with his hands on her shoulders, "What did you do?"

"Nothing" she replied innocently, straining to press kisses to his throat. "Well, I did ask Milli to choreograph us a dance for the wedding."

Draco glared at her, "You want me to dance?"

"Yes."

"I don't dance Ginny."

"You do now, honey."

"No I do not."

"Yes you do." And with that she proceeded to break his hold, jump into his arms and kissed him senseless.

When she presented him with a break he brought his hands up from where he had been holding her and tugged her hair. "For you, my dear, I will dance."

And his reward was another round of well deserved snogging.


	25. Triumph

"This is the day, it's finally here…" Ginny whispered, smoothing her hands down the white silk of her gown. Millicent smacked her hands away, scowling at the wrinkles left by her constant fretting. Pansy settled the silver tiara on Ginny's thick curls, piled on top of her head and held with delicate silver and ruby pins. Alex helped the other two secure the veil on top of the crown, the thin white gossamer obscuring Ginny's face slightly. The girls stepped back, checking the results of their hard work. Everything was perfect from the top of their heads to the crystal of their shoes.

"You're ready."

… … … … … … …

"This is the day, it's finally here…" Draco mused, straightening his tie in the mirror. Behind him, Blaise and the rest of the groomsmen chuckled at his fidgeting. They were all striking in the dark grey tuxes and ruby ties that Draco selected from the tailor. Alternating between them were bouteiners in red roses and silver orchids, ruby cufflinks held their shirts sleeves down. A final mirror check and the men filed out of the Slytherin common room that had served as their dressing room and into the great hall. Blaise tugged Draco back before he could enter the doors and clapped him on the shoulder. Locking eyes with him Blaise smiled and nodded.

"You're ready."

… … … … … … … … … … …

The great hall had been transformed over night into a pseudo chapel. A silver carpet led up to the dais that usually held the professor's table and on either side small silver seats festooned with red roses held the gathered guests. The front row held the families of both bride and groom, seated on the left and right respectively. The ceiling showed clear blue skies, magical glitter floating along with the candles to create a fairy land.

Into this Draco and his groomsmen walked lining up on the right side of the dais steps. Draco looked out across the gathered friends, family and classmates and marveled at how his life and the lives of those around him where changed. Fate was a funny mistress and he was willing to dance to her tune for as long as she kept playing.

His musings were brought to an end by the sound of a sweetly pitched song coming from outside of the great hall doors. The witches and wizards stood in their places and turned to face the doors. As the song grew louder and higher the doors swung open, revealing Alex and Pansy side by side. Their gowns floated as they moved, singing as they glided down the aisle. The song had no words, just a harmonic blend of voices. Behind them Ginny walked, the sight of her causing Draco to lose his breath. She had her eyes locked on his, beaming behind her veil. Millicent and Hermione came behind her, the doors swinging shut behind them silently.

As the girls came even with the dais Alex and Pansy went to stand on the left side, leaving Ginny standing before Draco. He held his hand out to her, his smile getting almost painfully large when her delicate hand slid into his. They turned to face the dais, and the witch who stood upon it.

Minerva smiled down at the couple in front of her and held her hands over each of their heads. "Honored guests, we have convened here today to witness the vows of Draco Caius Malfoy and Ginevera Molly Weasly. Having had both of these remarkable young wizards as my students it brings me great joy to be presiding over this ceremony. Draco, turn to Ginny and repeat after me."

Minerva watched as the two locked gazes, "I Draco vow to share my life with you. I vow to give equally of myself and my magic whenever you require. I vow to hold you above all others and allow no one to tear us apart. I vow that my love comes freely and without holding any part of myself back."

Draco's strong voice didn't waver or pause as he repeated the age old vows, allowing his magic to lift off of his skin and wrap around Ginny. He smiled as her face registered the shock of having his magic touch hers for the first time. She tightened her hand on his as she repeated the same words back to him, her magic rising to meet his.

"With these vows you two are bound, now and forever. What has come together in love let no evil tear asunder. I pronounce you husband and wife. Draco, Ginny, seal your bond with a kiss."

Draco lifted the gossamer veil and tugged Ginny forward. She came to him eagerly, accepting his kiss as the combined magics caused sparks to burst from their skin in rainbows of color. The guests erupted into cheers, standing to applaud. Draco pulled back and took her by the hand to lead her down the aisle and out onto the grounds and the massive tent that had been placed there.

-.-

"where are we going Ginny? The food's back that way!" Blaise whined as he and his Prince were dragged away from the massive feast laid out behind them and back towards the great hall. His Prince giggled beside him, her hand tucked into his elbow as he drug her along beside him. Ginny threw a scathing look over her shoulder at the pair, pulling them along at a fast clip.

"You know bloody well where we're going! I told you two to stay close to the Great Hall and here you are, snogging by the chocolate fountain! There are pictures to be taken and wedding certificates to sign and a load of other things that need the presence of the Prince and Consort of Ravenclaw!"

"We're sorry Gin, there's just too much romance in the air. I blame you for setting up such a beautiful wedding!" Alex shot back, gathering her dress's train in her free hand to stop her from tripping on it. After a harried ten minute walk in which Ginny and Blaise traded snarky remarks on time and the lack thereof.

Arriving once again in front of the large doors to the Great Hall Blaise held on side open for the ladies to pass through, slapping Alex on the ass as she passed him. The indignant look she threw over her shoulder just made him chuckle and head for the front of the hall where Draco and the other groomsmen stood waiting on their arrival.

"Hey mate! You better get control of your wife! She's all kinds of bonkers," Blaise clapped Draco on the shoulder and good naturedly took the punch Ginny landed on his shoulder.

Her cheeks were flaming red and ruining the photos, so she and the bridesmaids were shooed off to chat while the groomsmen were photographed. The boys all looked like something out of a PlayWitch, strikingly handsome in the grey tuxes. The girls were all staring and not doing much talking over in their corner, and Ginny most of all.

"Mrs. Malfoy!" the photographer bellowed, sending sparkles jetting towards the group.

Ginny blinked when the bright white glitter fluttered to her feet and looked up in annoyance, "What?"

"I've been calling you for ten minutes! It is time for you girls to join us, and please let us get this done quickly!" The stout photographer turned back to the boys and missed the poisonous look that came from the Prince and two Consorts. Millicent was giggling behind her hand at the way the three other girls were indignantly stalking their way to the steps where the photographs were being taken.

Draco extended a hand and helped Ginny to navigate the short flight of stairs to the top. Once there he slipped his arms around her waist and kissed her gently, stroking her through the back of her dress. Blaise grinned as Alex let him lift her onto their designated step, holding her up so he didn't have to bend to plant a kiss on her mouth. Pansy made her own way to Damien on the third step, pulling him down by his tie to kiss him square on the mouth. Millicent rolled her eyes and took her place on the fourth step next to Greg. She squealed with shock when he grabbed her wrist and spun her into his arms, dipping her low and kissing the breath out of her.

The recovery of her wits was brought about by her friends cheering from the steps above her, whistles and catcalls of "it's about damn time!" cheerfully turning her face red.

The photographer meanwhile had been snapping away and by the time he got them all in line for a serious portrait he declared the session finished.

"Finally! Can we go eat now?" Greg grumbled, hand planted on Millicent's hip.


End file.
